Glitch
by Alwaysthe3rdParty
Summary: TFA fic. Sometimes the little glitches in life are the most important thngs. Just ask loner Shadestalker. Of course, certain Decepticons want his little Glitch to get to him...
1. Prolouge

**TF:Ani universe. Everything belongs to their respected owners except my OC's.**

A rapid knock sounded at the door. The mech groaned as he came out of recharge. "Who is it, Tran?" the black bot asked while getting up, "Whoever it is, they're asking for it!" The black bot flipped on the lights, revealing white areas around his figure, with a red Autobot symbol in the middle of his chasse, over his spark. He had yellow optics, different from the blue of his Autobot "Brethren". A hologram in the form a green mech appeared from the computer. "A package has arrived, sir," it reported, "There are no Autobots or Decepticons in sight." "Cut out that sir stuff, please. My name is Shadestalker, not sir. This is not the army of Cybertron for a matter of fact. I'm surprised some bot found us out here. We aren't suppose to even be on this planet, you're stolen and I'm considered a rogue on Cybertron. No bot lives here except besides the "primative" oraganics. Funny, I prefer them over any Transformer, Bot or Con."

Shadestalker openned the door and checked outside before taking in a package. "Sensors indicate no explosives, Shadestalker. Permission to open the package to test my solidfication program." "Go ahead Tran." Shadstalker handed him the package, Tran almost phasing through it and set it down on the workbench. He carefully pryed it open. "Shadestalker, we have a problem." He lifted something out of the package. Shadestalker found himself in the posession of a femme sparkling.

The sparkling was not very old. In fact, it looked nearly just sparked. She came out of her recharge, blinked a few times, and cooed. Tran, surprised, accidently let her phase through his serbos. Shadestalker dived and caught her. She started crying. "Okay, okay, let's get you something to digest and get you energized." He cradeled her while strolling over to the storage area. He reached in and pulled out some soft energon. She greatfully drank it. He then turned her on his shoulder, patted he, resulting in a satisfied burp.

"That's a good femme. What should we do with you?" The sparkling blinked her blue optics and cooed some more. She soon drifted into recharge. Shadestalker put a couple of blankets down on the workbench and set her dwon, stroking her head. "What will you name her?" Tran questioned, "It is obvious that some bot meant to leave her here and not a glitch." "That's it! You're a genius for a computer Tran!" "Shadestalker?" "That's her name, Glitch! It's perfect for her!" "Unusual, but you are her guardian now,it's your choice. I wonder who her creators were." "Whoever they were, they're insane for giving up such a cute litte thing!" "What happen to the tough, non-trusting rogue?" "I'm not non-trusting , just anti-social. But look at this face plate, doesn't it make your spark melt?!" "If I had a spark…" "Nonsense! You have a spark, I'm sure of it!" "If you say so…"

**Sorry for the short prolouge. This story takes place several solar cycles before the show, but way after the war. Tran is a lot like the Doctor on **_**Star Trek: Voyager**_**. Shadestalker, Glitch, and Tran belong to me.**


	2. The Warrant

Several solar cycles later, Glitch was a very intelligent and mischievous youngling (6 by human ages). She was very curious, about everything. Shadestalker, the rogue ninjabot, barely survived he "Why?" stage. She followed frogs, mimicking the way they hopped. She always watched any organic near the ship that she knew as home, seeing that she had no other younglings to play with. She didn't mind, she thought organics were interesting. Tran preferred her outside, seeing that she constantly hacked around his firewalls and got into files forbidden to her. She started to develop a roguish attitude, due to Shadestalker's influence, and a neutral outlook on everything in general.

Glitch sneaked past a recharging Shadestalker into Tran's central processor. "Shouldn't you be recharging?" someone asked. Glitch turned around to find Shadestalker, fully awake, with his arms crossed. She smiled sheepishly and went back to her room. Shadestalker went to the console and checked out what she had looked up. "What was the little glitch looking up in this time?" He got his answers in a few keystrokes. He put his palm over his face and shook his head. "I don't need this! I have enough trouble keeping up with her as it is!" Tran came online. "Shadestalker, what's wrong?" "She's looking up advance mechanics! I barely made it past basic! Face it Tran, my youngling is smarter that me!"

Glitch got up the next morning, before Shadestalker. She went over to the storage area and took out some energon, snacking down on it. Tran's form appeared. "Good morning, Tran." "Good morning, Glitch. Shadestalker told me that you made a run at my databanks last night." "He did?" "Yes, he did. Apparently, you're interested in advance mechanics." "There's nothing wrong with that! Shade said that I can be anything I want!" "I didn't say there was. It's just you should wait until you're a teen bot to start studying. It's obvious that you soak up info like an over energized bot with energon. If some bot finds out, they'll want you on Cybertron, away form Shadestalker and me." "Really? They would really separate me from Shade?" "Yes, that's the unfortunate truth. He's technically not even supposed to be here." She nodded.

"Tran, what's your real name?" "Teletran-2, Holographic Tech Edition." "No wonder Shade calls you Tran, it's a lot shorter." Tran chuckled and patted her head, his servo going through her armor and solidifying in her head. "Stupid glitched programming," he muttered, "Hang on, I'll get it out." A moment later, his servo came out. "Sorry about that." Glitch just smiled. The security alarm went off, scaring the nuts and bolts out of Glitch and waking up Shadestalker.

"Don't worry, Shadestalker. It's just him," Tran stated, after looking at the sensors, "No cause for alarm." "No cause for alarm?! If it were up to him, I would be in the stockades right now! Glitch, sweetie, go to your room. I have to discuss something with some bot." "You mean some bot finally visited us?! Oh goody! Can I meet him?" "Maybe later, honey." Glitch hung her head and went to her room.

Tran switched himself to her room. "You aren't going with Shade?" "If I did, then I couldn't show you the security so you could watch the discussion. Tran smiled slyly, causing Glitch to giggle. "Are you sure you're a Bot and not a Con computer?" "I'm a rogue, so I'm neither, and I can do what I want." Another giggle escaped from her. "Okay, let's watch." He switched on the sensors.

Shadestalker gathered his twin energon edged katanas and activated his battle mask, covering the top half of his face. He inhaled deeply, and exhaled, assuring himself that Glitch was out of sight. He pressed the opening button, dreading the moment. There, outside the door, stood a tall dark blue mech with a large chin. Shadestalker nearly rolled his optics at him. "What do you want… Sentinel Prime?"

Sentinel scoffed. "I think you know why I'm here, Ninja Master Shadestalker. You stole an experimental computer! What would've happened if the Decepticons had gotten a hold of it?!" "They would find a glitched program. He randomly solidifies and phases through things, I need to get that fixed." "He? IT's a slagging computer! It doesn't have a gender!" "Try telling Tran that." "You named it! What kind of glitched Autobot are you?!" "Watch this," Tran told Glitch, "I'll show him!" Tran disappeared from her room and appeared outside, scaring Sentinel out of his armor. He took his shield out and attempted to hit him. Tran was unphased as the shield went through him. "Are you done yet?" he asked, "I'm surprised that a "slagging" computer scared you."

Sentinel stopped attacking, inhaling heavily. Shadestalker chuckled. Sentinel regained his poise. "Cybertron High Command requests that you report to them." "Why?" "I don't know, they didn't tell me. Besides, it's none of your business! You're an Autobot, and that means obeying High Command! You're lucky they didn't send some bot after you when you went rogue!" "I'm tired of this conversation; I have better things to do." Shadestalker turned around to walk back into the ship. Sentinel blocked him. "I have a warrant to bring you in." "You mean to arrest me? I've broken no laws!" "No, but I can use any means necessary to get you there."

Shadestalker snatched the data pad and read over it. He grumbled and threw it at Tran, who it phased partially through until he randomly solidified, making it stuck in his servo. "Tran, I'm sorry!" he exclaimed, "Are you damaged?" "No, I can't feel pain, remember?" Tran took out the data pad and scanned it. "Sensors indicated that it's the real thing. Sorry Shadestalker." Shadstalker growled and went back into the ship. Tran disappeared. "Stupid holographic techs!" Sentinel murmured, "I'm glad that they ditched that program!"

He stepped into the ship. Shadestalker had shut his door to his room to meditate on the current situation. Glitch became curious and came out of her room. Sentinel set down his shield and helped himself to the energon in the storage area. Glitch used her mini-ninja skills (as Shade called them) to sneak in the room and steal his shield. She then found a spider that had wandered onto the ship, picked it up, and set it on his foot. The spider crawled up his armor as he sat down to digest the energon. As he gulped it down, he noticed that his shield was missing. "I could've sworn I put it down right there. I'll look for it later. Stupid ninja bots and their meditations." He felt a tingle on his shoulder. He looked over to see the spider. "EEEKK! AHHH! GET IT OFF!"

He ran around the ship, trying to get the spider off, screaming his head off. The spider got bored and hopped off, still leaving Sentinel screaming. Glitch laughed, accidently tripping and falling to the floor, revealing herself. He frowned and came over to her. "Scaredy Bot!" she exclaimed, "You were scared of an itsy bitsy spider!" "Was not!" "Was too!" "Was not!" "Was too x 2!" "Was not x a million!" "Was too x infinity! I win!" "Do not!" "Do too!" Of course, Tran recorded the whole thing for possible blackmail.

Sentinel grabbed her arm. "I don't know where you came from, you little glitch, but you're in trouble little missy!" "Let go of my arm, you big meany!" He kicked him in the shin, leaving a visible dent in his armor. "Yeow! That's it; you're in big trouble now!" He proceeded to chase her. She ran and laughed, seeing it as one big game, until he caught her. "Some bot needs some discipline! Where's your creator?" "I don't have any." "So you're an orphan?" "No, Shade's my daddy, but don't tell him I said that. He doesn't like it when I call him that since he's really not. I think I know your name. Shade calls you Jerkinal Prime."

Shadestalker came out to see what all the noise was about. "Is this yours?" Sentinel asked accusingly, thrusting Glitch in front of him, "She claims she is, but that was after she tried to infect me with some organic disease from a spider. I'm going to have to decontaminate again!" "Glitch, did you really?" She smiled and nodded. "Good femme!" "Wait, you're praising her for trying to kill me?! And where's my shield?! It was right there!" "Glitch, give Sentinel his shield back." Sentinel let go of her, and she retrieved his shield.

"Give me that!" he declared, snatching it away, "You should discipline your youngling more, Shadestalker." "Don't tell me what to do with her! You don't know how to even sparkling-sit! I wouldn't be talking if I were you!" Glitch stuck her tongue out at him, he did the same thing. "Alright, you two younglings, knock it off! Sentinel, would the Command mid if you rode with us to Cybertron? Tran needs the experience. We could put your ship in our cargo bay." "I guess it wouldn't hurt, you need to return the ship anyway." "Actually, this is my ship. I just accidently stole Tran because my navi computer was out and I thought he was its replacement."

"Are we really going to Cybertron, Tran?" Glitch asked him as Shadestalker prepped everything. "It appears so my young friend," he replied, "Shade and I are going back home." "Is it my home?" "We're not sure. It doesn't help that you don't have any colors, making you a neutral." "Huh? What are you talking about? I'm aquamarine!" "Not that kind of color. You'll understand when you're older." He blinked off to prepare also. She blinked a few times, confused by Tran's words. Since Shade was busy, she decided to go bug Sentinel.

She put on her cutest face and went up to him. "What's a Prime?" "It's a position, a title for officers." "Is Shade a Prime?" "No, ninjas can only be Masters because of all the time it takes to train." "Why are you a Prime?" "Because I'm better that every bot else!" "No you aren't! You're scared of a spider!" "Are not!" "Are too!" "Are not!" "Are too!" "Are not!" "Are not!" "Are too, and that's final!" Glitch walked away, pretending to be defeated, but giggled under her breath.

"Uh, Sentinel?" "What is it now, ninja?" "You do realize that you just got tricked." It took Sentinel a while to realize that Shade was right. "I can't believe that a youngling outwitted me!" "I can."

"Everything's prepped and ready, Shadestalker," Tran reported, "I have this odd sensation in my digestive tract." "You're nervous," Shade explained, "It's perfectly normal." "Not for a hologram," Sentinel pointed out, "They aren't supposed to feel anything." Tran ignored his remark. Glitch yawned, worn out from all the excitement. "Some bot needs a recharge," Shade commented, "Come on; let's get you to your berth. He followed her to her room. She hopped into the berth and laid down. "It's only a few megacycles to Cybertron," he assured her, stroking her head, "Don't worry, I'll be there too." "Night Shade." "Goodnight, Glitch." He turned out the lights and shut the door.

Glitch's optics shone in the darkness, searching for something. She finally found it. She pressed it. Soft music sounded in the room. She closed her optics and let her mind drift to a peaceful place. Eventually, she fell into recharge. Shadestalker checked on her a few cycles later. He cracked a smile and shut the door. "How is she?" Tran asked. "I don't think she even felt lift off. She's been in recharge for a while." "About time," Sentinel commented, "Now we can finally have some peace and quiet for once."

Shadestalker woke up to Tran's alert system, Sentinel fell out of his chair, and Glitch naturally out of recharge. "Transmission incoming." "Let it through, Tran," Shade yawned while rubbing his optics, "This is Shadestalker on the _Nova_. Who's hailing me?" "This is Cybertron Space Traffic Control. Standby for docking instructions." "10-4." Shade took the helm to help guide Tran. "What's going on?" a tired Glitch asked, "Are we there yet?" Sentinel rolled his optics. He picked him up, set her in a seat, and strapped her in. "You ready, Tran?" "I hope so, here it goes!" "This is CSTC again _Nova_, you are clear to land on Pad #665.5." "Acknowledged, CSTC. Coming in for landing, now."

"Point 5?" Glitch wondered, "How can you have half of a pad?" "It means that you can fit two ships on it and we're landing on the second half," Sentinel explained, "Don't you know anything?" "I know who to read, write, add, subtract…" "Ok, so he did a decent job of keeping you in your minimal IQ levels." "…and how to multiply, divide, problem solving, critical thinking, basic mechanics (computers and ships), basic tech (robots), basic computer analysis, and the analysis of resources." Sentinel blinked a few times. "Okay, so you know a lot." "I also know ho to hack past firewalls and find info." "I bet you can."

**AN: Phew, long chapter! Next time, more Sentinel bashing, and few familiar faces.**


	3. Perceptor and The Elite Guard

Tran landed smoothly. "Phew, that was exciting!" he commented; "Now I know why I hate flying!" Sentinel was about to say something, but Glitch gave him her look. "If looks could off line you," he muttered. Everybody unstrapped themselves. "Keep com systems open," Shadestalker told Tran, "They might want to talk to you." "Will do. Good luck and have fun, Glitch!" She nodded, but clinged tightly to Shadestalker's servo. He just smiled and they all left the ship.

The first thing Glitch noticed was all the noise. The noise of incoming and departing ships, the noise of bots talking, and some transformations sound were almost too much for her, making her cling tighter to Shade. "You'll get used to it," he explained, "It's nothing to be afraid of." Glitch wasn't so sure. They spotted to mechs coming towards them. Glitch hid behind Shade's leg, squeezing it. "It's about time, Sentinel commented when they came closer. One mech was blue and white, very large, and carried a hammer. The other one was shorter, black and white, wearing a visor. Sentinel saluted the large one. "Mission completed, Ultra Magnus." "Good job, Sentinel Prime. Master Shadestalker, It's an honor to meet you again." Shade kowtowed him. The other mech came up. "Master," he said, kowtowing, "I've not seen you for a long time." "I've been living peacefully and happily on another planet. It's good to see you again, Jazz."

Glitch peeked from behind Shade's leg to observe the one called Ultra Magnus. When he looked her direction, she ducked back behind Shade's leg. "I didn't know you had a youngling," he commented, "How old is she?" "6," Shadestalker replied, "Somebody left her at my doorstep. As you can see, she's a little shy. She's never been around such tall bots before." "But she wasn't scared of me," Sentinel remarked, "And I'm large!" "You don't scare anybody," Jazz pointed out, "Hey there, little miss! Don't be shy! My name's Jazz, what's yours?"

"G-G-Glitch," she stuttered, "Hi." She hesitantly shook his servo. "Nice to meet you, Glitch. Have you ever been to Cybertron before?" She shook her head. Ultra Magnus, pleased that Jazz had success with her, decided to give it a try. "Hello young one," he greeted, "I'm Ultra Magnus, leader of the Elite Guard." She hid completely behind Shade. He frowned. "Just give her time," Shade assured him, "If she responds immediately, that usually means that she doesn't like you." He eyed Sentinel. "What are her colors?" Magnus whispered out of her hearing range. "None, as far as I can tell. Maybe she'll eventually choose, or stay neutral." He nodded. "The High Command is waiting. But first, Master Shadestalker, there's somebody wanting to meet you." "I'm not ready to take on another student!" "He's not quite a student."

Glitch peeked out from behind Shade's leg to see a lanky red mech with a long red tube on his shoulder. He wore a huge smile. Shadestalker grinned. "Perceptor! Howa are you?!" he excitedly asked, "How long has it been?" "Too long, you rogue! You never call, never write! Where'd you go?" (**AN/ not the same Perceptor from 'Transwarped'. This one's much younger and easier to understand.**) "Kalstus II." "That would be logical choice for you, an untamed bot on an untamed planet. I could hardly believe my audio sensors when I heard that you were coming back." "Yeah, I came back for my court martial I'm afraid. It was either come willingly or be arrested. I want you to meet someone close to my spark." Shade pushed Glitch from behind his leg. Perceptor, the shortest mech there, kneeled down to her level.

"Hello there," he stated, "What's your name?" "Glitch," she replied confidently, "Aren't you Shade's brother?" "No, not really. He just accepted me into his clan, making me his brother in arms, but I guess you don't know what I'm talking about." "No, I do and I understand. What are you?" "I'm just a scientist trying to make life better." "And one that barely show his face in public, making him unbearable in social situations," Sentinel snidely commented. "You're unbearable in social situations!" Glitch shot back. "She got ya there, Sentinel," Jazz stated, laughing. "Hmph!"

"Do you need me at the trial?" Perceptor asked Ultra Magnus, "I could be…" "There's no need, Perceptor," he cut in, trying to calm the younger bot down, "The trial won't start until tomorrow and it's more of a…" "Yeah," Shade answered, "It's a lynching." He stormed off.

"He'll be back," Perceptor remarked. "How do you know, smarty mech?" Sentinel questioned, "You can't read processors!" "He left something behind." The Elite Guard found a very confuse Glitch, who was cocking her head at her guardian's sudden departure without her. "Perceptor and I'll find 'im," Jazz volunteered, "I have a pretty good idea of where he went." "Suck up," Sentinel teased, only to get whacked in the back of his head by his leader. (**It's about time!**)

"You're a lot worse, Sentinel," he sternly commented, "And why did you give him an impression that this was a court martial?" "It is, isn't it?" Ultra Magnus sighed and walked away. "What'd I say?" Sentinel wondered, "I guess I'm stuck with you downgrades." "Oh joy," Glitch remarked, "Does he really have to come with us?" "I'm afraid so, G," Jazz answered, "We better get moving."

Jazz and Perceptor searched the front while Sentinel and Glitch took up the rear. "So uh, Stitch…" "Glitch." "…whatever. What are your colors?" "Rrm, aquamarine?" Sentinel burst out laughing. "I gotta save that one in the ol' hard drive!" he exclaimed, "That's the funniest thing I've ever heard!" Glitch blinked, very confused. "Stop teasing her," Perceptor growled, "The hapless youngling has enough strife without your disparaging comments." Now it was Sentinel's turn to be confused. Glitch smirked, knowing every word that Perceptor had said.

Jazz spotted Shadestalker meditating on the roof of a very tall building. "C'mon little missy," He told Glitch, "Let's return you to your guardian." She took Jazz's servo, blew a quick raspberry at Sentinel, and the two rushed into the building.

"That youngling is evil I tell you!" "No, she's not. She's just a little… roguish. Nothing evil about that." "Are you sure she's not a spy?" "Grow up, Sentinel. The only spy around here is Longarm Prime."(**Forgive any continuity errors. It will all straighten out.**) "No he isn't! Take that back!" "No, and I'll stand by my suspicions!"

"Master," Jazz said when he got to the roof, "Sorry to disturb you, but you forgot something." Shadestalker turned around. "Oh, sorry Glitch he apologized, "I didn't mean to…" "I know," she finished, "And the big one said that it's not a court material." "Martial," he corrected her, "It's not?" "No, the High Command is trying to prevent security breeches. They just want answers. The note you left didn't cover enough. Look Master, no matter what the outcome, I still think you're one groovy bot!" "Thank you Jazz, you always did have your own way of complimenting. Thank you for making sure that Glitch got here safely. If I remember right, the streets aren't always so friendly."

"You got that right, Master. Yesterday, two rogue Decepticons attacked an Autobot couple walking home. What they didn't realize was that the mech is the best shot at the academy." "Hmm, maybe while I'm here, I better make the best of my abilities." "My lips are sealed. But what about Glitch? You can't just leave her!" "I'll do at night, while she's asleep. I figure that we would stay with Perceptor. He'll probably insist on it. I just hope that Sentinel doesn't find out."

Jazz and Shade came down, Glitch hold on to Shade's servo. "Well, it's about time," Sentinel snorted, "What took you guys so long?" "Lay off," Jazz told him, "You've done enough already." "You're welcome to stay at my place," Perceptor offered, "But it's a tad… disorganized." "I wouldn't expect anything different," Shade replied, "I'll go report and then we'll have lunch." "Don't you have to get her a spark certificate? You know, just to make the guardianship legally recorded so no one accuses you of youngling-napping." "Good ides, Perce. Here, take Glitch and meet me in the plaza in a couple of megacycles." He handed her off to Perceptor and left.

"Why does everybody pass me around?" she asked, "And what's this whole thing about colors?" "You'll understand when you're older. Jazz, why don't we take her on our own tour of Cybertron?" "It'll kill time." "I'll go with you to make sure she doesn't get into anything that she's not supposed to." "It's a strange place; I seriously doubt that she'll wander off. Fine, you can tag along; just don't draw any attention to us." "Okay. Everybody move aside, Elite Guard coming through!" Perceptor shook his head while Jazz did a face palm. "Want to ditch him?" "Yes please."

It didn't take long for Sentinel to get them lost. "I told you this wasn't the right way," Jazz chided him, "Let's just for back the way we came." "No, I'm sure this is the right shortcut." "No!" all three of them exclaimed and they turned around. "I'm tired," Glitch complained, "When are we going to eat?" "Oh yeah, I was supposed to feed you this morning," Sentinel remembered, "I felt like I was forgetting something!" Everybody glared at him.

"Here, hitch a ride on the Jazzenator," Jazz offered, "Don't worry, you'll get something to eat soon. She climbed onto his shoulders. "Wow, quite a view," she admitted, "Is this what it's like being tall?" "It's all fun and games until you hit your head on something." "We need to go that way. I see a whole bunch of bots." "Okay, let's go." The group trudged towards the busy place.

"Ah, civilization," Sentinel sighed, "Hey, Longarm Prime is here!" "Oh goody," Perceptor groaned, "Longarm." You're just jealous because he's smarter than you!" "Sure, and he uses my inventions to do so well at his job. I still don't trust him, there's something sinister about him." "Fine, have it your way. Come on Jazz, you can play with the youngling later." "But-""No buts." Jazz put Glitch down and followed him.

Perceptor ordered them a couple of energon treats as they continued to look for the plaza. "So you're a scientist," Glitch began, "How did you meet Shade?" "Well, some bad mechs shot down the research I was on. Shadestalker had been training on the planet we crashed on. I got separated from the group and was found by him. Then the Decepticons attacked us, seriously injuring him. He was offline for a couple of cycles before I managed to reboot him. He was thankful that I saved his spark, so he made me part of his clan, which was only him. He was in between students." "So that makes you my uncle?" "Uhh…" _Come on Perceptor! You can do advance mechanics and physics, but you can't talk to a youngling?!_

"Sure, maybe." "I'll let you decide later." "Thanks, I appreciate it." "You don't get out a lot, do you?" "No, it's kind of hard when you know more than everybody else. You notice things that nobody else gives a second thought about. Do you understand?" "Yep! I'm smart too! I really want to get into advance mechanics, but I decided to wait until I was older. Maybe those two can help us." Perceptor looked at the aforementioned two. They gave him an evil look.

They finally arrived at the plaza. About the time, Shadestalker arrived, "Okay, what's the best place to eat?" he asked, "I'll pay, I have plenty in my account." "Erm, about that Shade… I had to move it to my account because the Cybertroninan First bank declared you dead. You'll have to go in person to transfer it back to your account." Shade sighed. "It can wait until tomorrow, if I'm still online after the hearing." "It's not a court martial. Let's eat and forget about it. We've been delayed for too long." "Where's Jazz and Jerkinel?" "Oh, Jerkinel spotted his favorite charge and dragged Jazz with him." "I don't believe I've ever met the bot." "Hmph, I don't trust him! He's ….too good at his job." "Yeah, those intelligent types can be really shady." "Let's stop here."

They took a seat and ordered some energon. "Have you been behaving Glitch?" "Depends on who you ask." "Good girl." He stroked the top of here head. "Tomorrow, you're staying with Pereceptor. Just do what he says." "Okay, will you be gone long? "Yeah, for a while. But don't worry, nothings going to happen."

**AN/ Famous last words, Shadestalker. Next chap: a familiar face and a skirmish**


	4. Interlude

Tran landed smoothly. "Phew, that was exciting!" he commented; "Now I know why I hate flying!" Sentinel was about to say something, but Glitch gave him her look. "If looks could off line you," he muttered. Everybody unstrapped themselves. "Keep com systems open," Shadestalker told Tran, "They might want to talk to you." "Will do. Good luck and have fun, Glitch!" She nodded, but clinged tightly to Shadestalker's servo. He just smiled and they all left the ship.

The first thing Glitch noticed was all the noise. The noise of incoming and departing ships, the noise of bots talking, and some transformations sound were almost too much for her, making her cling tighter to Shade. "You'll get used to it," he explained, "It's nothing to be afraid of." Glitch wasn't so sure. They spotted to mechs coming towards them. Glitch hid behind Shade's leg, squeezing it. "It's about time, Sentinel commented when they came closer. One mech was blue and white, very large, and carried a hammer. The other one was shorter, black and white, wearing a visor. Sentinel saluted the large one. "Mission completed, Ultra Magnus." "Good job, Sentinel Prime. Master Shadestalker, It's an honor to meet you again." Shade kowtowed him. The other mech came up. "Master," he said, kowtowing, "I've not seen you for a long time." "I've been living peacefully and happily on another planet. It's good to see you again, Jazz."

Glitch peeked from behind Shade's leg to observe the one called Ultra Magnus. When he looked her direction, she ducked back behind Shade's leg. "I didn't know you had a youngling," he commented, "How old is she?" "6," Shadestalker replied, "Somebody left her at my doorstep. As you can see, she's a little shy. She's never been around such tall bots before." "But she wasn't scared of me," Sentinel remarked, "And I'm large!" "You don't scare anybody," Jazz pointed out, "Hey there, little miss! Don't be shy! My name's Jazz, what's yours?"

"G-G-Glitch," she stuttered, "Hi." She hesitantly shook his servo. "Nice to meet you, Glitch. Have you ever been to Cybertron before?" She shook her head. Ultra Magnus, pleased that Jazz had success with her, decided to give it a try. "Hello young one," he greeted, "I'm Ultra Magnus, leader of the Elite Guard." She hid completely behind Shade. He frowned. "Just give her time," Shade assured him, "If she responds immediately, that usually means that she doesn't like you." He eyed Sentinel. "What are her colors?" Magnus whispered out of her hearing range. "None, as far as I can tell. Maybe she'll eventually choose, or stay neutral." He nodded. "The High Command is waiting. But first, Master Shadestalker, there's somebody wanting to meet you." "I'm not ready to take on another student!" "He's not quite a student."

Glitch peeked out from behind Shade's leg to see a lanky red mech with a long red tube on his shoulder. He wore a huge smile. Shadestalker grinned. "Perceptor! Howa are you?!" he excitedly asked, "How long has it been?" "Too long, you rogue! You never call, never write! Where'd you go?" (**AN/ not the same Perceptor from 'Transwarped'. This one's much younger and easier to understand.**) "Kalstus II." "That would be logical choice for you, an untamed bot on an untamed planet. I could hardly believe my audio sensors when I heard that you were coming back." "Yeah, I came back for my court martial I'm afraid. It was either come willingly or be arrested. I want you to meet someone close to my spark." Shade pushed Glitch from behind his leg. Perceptor, the shortest mech there, kneeled down to her level.

"Hello there," he stated, "What's your name?" "Glitch," she replied confidently, "Aren't you Shade's brother?" "No, not really. He just accepted me into his clan, making me his brother in arms, but I guess you don't know what I'm talking about." "No, I do and I understand. What are you?" "I'm just a scientist trying to make life better." "And one that barely show his face in public, making him unbearable in social situations," Sentinel snidely commented. "You're unbearable in social situations!" Glitch shot back. "She got ya there, Sentinel," Jazz stated, laughing. "Hmph!"

"Do you need me at the trial?" Perceptor asked Ultra Magnus, "I could be…" "There's no need, Perceptor," he cut in, trying to calm the younger bot down, "The trial won't start until tomorrow and it's more of a…" "Yeah," Shade answered, "It's a lynching." He stormed off.

"He'll be back," Perceptor remarked. "How do you know, smarty mech?" Sentinel questioned, "You can't read processors!" "He left something behind." The Elite Guard found a very confuse Glitch, who was cocking her head at her guardian's sudden departure without her. "Perceptor and I'll find 'im," Jazz volunteered, "I have a pretty good idea of where he went." "Suck up," Sentinel teased, only to get whacked in the back of his head by his leader. (**It's about time!**)

"You're a lot worse, Sentinel," he sternly commented, "And why did you give him an impression that this was a court martial?" "It is, isn't it?" Ultra Magnus sighed and walked away. "What'd I say?" Sentinel wondered, "I guess I'm stuck with you downgrades." "Oh joy," Glitch remarked, "Does he really have to come with us?" "I'm afraid so, G," Jazz answered, "We better get moving."

Jazz and Perceptor searched the front while Sentinel and Glitch took up the rear. "So uh, Stitch…" "Glitch." "…whatever. What are your colors?" "Rrm, aquamarine?" Sentinel burst out laughing. "I gotta save that one in the ol' hard drive!" he exclaimed, "That's the funniest thing I've ever heard!" Glitch blinked, very confused. "Stop teasing her," Perceptor growled, "The hapless youngling has enough strife without your disparaging comments." Now it was Sentinel's turn to be confused. Glitch smirked, knowing every word that Perceptor had said.

Jazz spotted Shadestalker meditating on the roof of a very tall building. "C'mon little missy," He told Glitch, "Let's return you to your guardian." She took Jazz's servo, blew a quick raspberry at Sentinel, and the two rushed into the building.

"That youngling is evil I tell you!" "No, she's not. She's just a little… roguish. Nothing evil about that." "Are you sure she's not a spy?" "Grow up, Sentinel. The only spy around here is Longarm Prime."(**Forgive any continuity errors. It will all straighten out.**) "No he isn't! Take that back!" "No, and I'll stand by my suspicions!"

"Master," Jazz said when he got to the roof, "Sorry to disturb you, but you forgot something." Shadestalker turned around. "Oh, sorry Glitch he apologized, "I didn't mean to…" "I know," she finished, "And the big one said that it's not a court material." "Martial," he corrected her, "It's not?" "No, the High Command is trying to prevent security breeches. They just want answers. The note you left didn't cover enough. Look Master, no matter what the outcome, I still think you're one groovy bot!" "Thank you Jazz, you always did have your own way of complimenting. Thank you for making sure that Glitch got here safely. If I remember right, the streets aren't always so friendly."

"You got that right, Master. Yesterday, two rogue Decepticons attacked an Autobot couple walking home. What they didn't realize was that the mech is the best shot at the academy." "Hmm, maybe while I'm here, I better make the best of my abilities." "My lips are sealed. But what about Glitch? You can't just leave her!" "I'll do at night, while she's asleep. I figure that we would stay with Perceptor. He'll probably insist on it. I just hope that Sentinel doesn't find out."

Jazz and Shade came down, Glitch hold on to Shade's servo. "Well, it's about time," Sentinel snorted, "What took you guys so long?" "Lay off," Jazz told him, "You've done enough already." "You're welcome to stay at my place," Perceptor offered, "But it's a tad… disorganized." "I wouldn't expect anything different," Shade replied, "I'll go report and then we'll have lunch." "Don't you have to get her a spark certificate? You know, just to make the guardianship legally recorded so no one accuses you of youngling-napping." "Good ides, Perce. Here, take Glitch and meet me in the plaza in a couple of megacycles." He handed her off to Perceptor and left.

"Why does everybody pass me around?" she asked, "And what's this whole thing about colors?" "You'll understand when you're older. Jazz, why don't we take her on our own tour of Cybertron?" "It'll kill time." "I'll go with you to make sure she doesn't get into anything that she's not supposed to." "It's a strange place; I seriously doubt that she'll wander off. Fine, you can tag along; just don't draw any attention to us." "Okay. Everybody move aside, Elite Guard coming through!" Perceptor shook his head while Jazz did a face palm. "Want to ditch him?" "Yes please."

It didn't take long for Sentinel to get them lost. "I told you this wasn't the right way," Jazz chided him, "Let's just for back the way we came." "No, I'm sure this is the right shortcut." "No!" all three of them exclaimed and they turned around. "I'm tired," Glitch complained, "When are we going to eat?" "Oh yeah, I was supposed to feed you this morning," Sentinel remembered, "I felt like I was forgetting something!" Everybody glared at him.

"Here, hitch a ride on the Jazzenator," Jazz offered, "Don't worry, you'll get something to eat soon. She climbed onto his shoulders. "Wow, quite a view," she admitted, "Is this what it's like being tall?" "It's all fun and games until you hit your head on something." "We need to go that way. I see a whole bunch of bots." "Okay, let's go." The group trudged towards the busy place.

"Ah, civilization," Sentinel sighed, "Hey, Longarm Prime is here!" "Oh goody," Perceptor groaned, "Longarm." You're just jealous because he's smarter than you!" "Sure, and he uses my inventions to do so well at his job. I still don't trust him, there's something sinister about him." "Fine, have it your way. Come on Jazz, you can play with the youngling later." "But-""No buts." Jazz put Glitch down and followed him.

Perceptor ordered them a couple of energon treats as they continued to look for the plaza. "So you're a scientist," Glitch began, "How did you meet Shade?" "Well, some bad mechs shot down the research I was on. Shadestalker had been training on the planet we crashed on. I got separated from the group and was found by him. Then the Decepticons attacked us, seriously injuring him. He was offline for a couple of cycles before I managed to reboot him. He was thankful that I saved his spark, so he made me part of his clan, which was only him. He was in between students." "So that makes you my uncle?" "Uhh…" _Come on Perceptor! You can do advance mechanics and physics, but you can't talk to a youngling?!_

"Sure, maybe." "I'll let you decide later." "Thanks, I appreciate it." "You don't get out a lot, do you?" "No, it's kind of hard when you know more than everybody else. You notice things that nobody else gives a second thought about. Do you understand?" "Yep! I'm smart too! I really want to get into advance mechanics, but I decided to wait until I was older. Maybe those two can help us." Perceptor looked at the aforementioned two. They gave him an evil look.

They finally arrived at the plaza. About the time, Shadestalker arrived, "Okay, what's the best place to eat?" he asked, "I'll pay, I have plenty in my account." "Erm, about that Shade… I had to move it to my account because the Cybertroninan First bank declared you dead. You'll have to go in person to transfer it back to your account." Shade sighed. "It can wait until tomorrow, if I'm still online after the hearing." "It's not a court martial. Let's eat and forget about it. We've been delayed for too long." "Where's Jazz and Jerkinel?" "Oh, Jerkinel spotted his favorite charge and dragged Jazz with him." "I don't believe I've ever met the bot." "Hmph, I don't trust him! He's ….too good at his job." "Yeah, those intelligent types can be really shady." "Let's stop here."

They took a seat and ordered some energon. "Have you been behaving Glitch?" "Depends on who you ask." "Good girl." He stroked the top of here head. "Tomorrow, you're staying with Pereceptor. Just do what he says." "Okay, will you be gone long? "Yeah, for a while. But don't worry, nothings going to happen."

**AN/ Famous last words, Shadestalker. Next chap: a familiar face and a skirmish**


	5. Lockdowned

Glitch woke up in time to tell Shade goodbye and wish him luck. Soon, she was left alone with Perceptor. "I'll tell you what Glitch; we'll have breakfast, clean the house, and then have some fun, okay?" She nodded and quickly ate her breakfast, "Poor Tran, he must be lonely," she stated, "Can we visit him later?" "Sure. Now let's see, organize these pads by date." You don't put them in the computer?" "I do, but I jot down my original notes to have hard copies, just n case of computer crashes." He began sorting through a pile. Glitch started on another pile.

After sorting through that, she noticed something out of place. "What's this? And who's Moonhopper?" "Um, personal log. Nothing you need to see!" He snatched and put it in a drawer. "Put the boxes in order by decacycles. Be careful, you could get shut in the lock box if it shuts." "Don't worry, I will be!"

She carried the box to the lock box and put it in. She heard a noise. She looked around, all sensors in alert mode and all her ninja instincts flaring. "I know you're there! Come out where I can see you!" Nothing moved or responded. She shrugged and put more boxes in the lock box.

Perceptor rushed in and shoved her into the lock box. "Stay here," he told her in a hushed voice, "don't come out until I tell you to." "What's going on?" "I think somebody's trying to break in. I'll explain later!" He shut the door. Glitch held her intake.

Perceptor dug through his desk to find a small blaster. He didn't have a weapon on him. What everybody thought was a shoulder cannon was actually a highly advance scanner, accurate down to the smallest nanometer. It was wired into his system, so no one could use it besides him. In essence, it was a part of him, so he could feel pain through it. The door swung open.

He whipped around to aim his blaster at a strange looking bot. "Who are you?!" he demanded, "What are you doing in my house?!" The bot chuckled. "You seriously think that a little blaster like that is going to stop me?" he asked, his hook gleaming menacingly in the light, "I heard you were smart, but obviously you have no common sense. Now, are you going to come willingly or do I have to use force?" Perceptor held his gaze and fired the blaster.

The blaster sent the sinister mech flying into the wall. He got up and wiped off his mug. "You got a little fight in you, I like that. This isn't going to be as boring as I thought. I'm a bounty hunter, but you can call me Lockdown."

"Bounty hunter, eh? I don't know why you want with me, but you aren't going to get me." He fired another shot. Lockdown easily avoided it. "You see, the same trick doesn't work twice on me." His hook came fling out. Preceptor attempted to dodge it, but it nicked him. He let out an exclamation, nearly dropping his blaster. But as soon as he recovered, Lockdown was on top of him.

He knocked the blaster out of his servo. Perceptor struggled to get the larger mech off him. "They were right. Your IQ might be off the charts, but your fighting skills aren't worth slag." Lockdown picked him up and hurled him into the wall. Perceptor quickly got up to avoid the next blow. After Lockdown missed, preceptor tackled him.

The two rolled on the floor, Lockdown trying to strangle Perceptor and Perceptor trying to not get strangled. "Why are you here?" "Isn't it obvious, prodigy?" "No, ugh, apparently not!" "I want you." "Pardon?" "Let me rephrase that. If I bring you in, I get a nice little reward and a bonus for a youngling that has recently come into your care." Perceptor kicked him off.

He dived for his blaster. Lockdown predicted his and dived for it too. The two collided heads, both missing the blaster. Lockdown took the opportunity to punch him in the face, sending him flying. Lockdown put his foot on Perceptor's chasse, pinning down the younger bot, who was still struggling.

"Aw, don't be that way. MY contact doesn't want the merchandise damaged. Damaged merchandise loses it value."Perceptor didn't cease his hopeless attempt to get the larger mech off him. Lockdown sighed. Something popped out of his arm. "Do you know what this is, smarty mech?" "Yes, ungh! It's an, gah, EMP!" "Don't worry, I'll set it on a low level, just enough to calm you down and stop your squirming." He zapped him. Perceptor closed his optics.

Lockdown removed his foot and picked up the shut down red mech. That was, until Perceptor snapped his optics open and threw the bounty hunter. "Funny thing about me. You see, I'm qualified to some medbot equipment because of my duel role as scientist and sometimes tech. The EMP is one of those pieces. I'm immune to it's effects."

"So I'm going to have to do this the old fashion way, that's fine with me." He charged, hook first. Perceptor caught is, but struggled to keep it from crashing down on him. Lockdown pushed his hook down further. Perceptor began to slide back, his feet digging into the floor causing a grinding noise.

"Face it; you're no match for me. It looks like you need more brawn than data banks." Naturally, Perceptor knew he was right, but he wouldn't let the arrogant bot have the satisfaction of knowing it. Suddenly, one of his knee joints gave out. He almost fell. But remained on one knee. "What now? Are you giving up?"

Lockdown increased his attack pressure, knocking over Perceptor. Once again, he placed a foot on his chasse. "Weren't we in this situation a cycle ago? Except this time, I'm going to do it right." He hit him hard in the head, making the young scientist shut down. He punched him again, just to make doubly sure the he was shut down, for real. "Hmm, better find that youngling quick. I don't know how long he'll stay out."

Lockdown scanned the room with his optics. "No signs of the youngling." The aforementioned youngling was currently stretched out along the ceiling beams above his head. Glitch held her intake, observing the odd looking bot. this odd bot had a white face with black markings and spikes. He was tall and lean, but he looked like he had parts fro other bots on him, especially the hook he had instead of a servo.

"Not a Bot or a con," she thought, noting the lack of a symbol, "Not a neutral either. Shade said that neutrals aren't usually very violent. Then who is this bot? Why did he hurt Perceptor? Where's Shade when I need him?" The mech left the room.

Glitch slowly and silently began to make her way down. Listening to him tear through the house, knocking things over, opening and shutting things. "How many places could a youngling hide?" he groaned, "Hm, a personal log." He skimmed through it. "Nah, not interesting. But I wonder who Moonhopper is."

Glitch knew she had to find help, no matter who it was. But first, she had to get past the intruder that was blocking her goal without being seen. She saw her opportunity to make a dash for the door when his back was turned. She took a deep intake and made her silent but desperate dash. She made a grab for the door knob when something caught the back or her armor around her neck.

"There you are," the intruder commented, "you almost gave me the slip. It's been eons since any bot did that." Glitch struggled to get herself unhooked, which she managed to do. He just grabbed her with his servo. "Don't leave so soon. The party's just getting started." "Let go! Let go! Let go of me!" She gave him a swift ninja kick in the arm, making him let go. She ran, not caring where she ran, or what she ran into. The item ended up being the filing cabinet. It toppled over, nearly squishing her. She crawled out from under it.

"I'm impressed," Lockdown admitted, slinging Perceptor over his shoulder and taking Glitch under his arm, ignoring her kicking him, "You put up a decent fight for a youngling, especially considering your guardian." "Technically, Perceptor isn't my guardian," she replied, "What do you want with us? Who and what are you?" "You're a curious one, aren't you? I'm a bounty hunter" "A what?" He chuckled at her ignorance. "Somebody's put a price on your heads. "Why?" "I don't know and I don't care." "You're not very nice." "No, I'm not."

He walked onto his ship, the lights automatically turning on. He placed Perceptor on the table, the thick cords wrapping themselves around his chasse, arms, and legs. "What did you do to him?!" Glitch cried, "You hurt him!" "I gave him an option, but he chose the hard way." "Put me down! I don't like you!" "Aw, you're breaking my spark. Now be a good little bot and shut up! No, let me go!" He opened a closet and put her in it. He shut the door, leaving her in the dark. She curled up into a ball to meditate on what had happened.


	6. Transit

**AN/ Sorry for the lack of notes last part. I know the timing is off, but it will work out in the sequel. I wrote the story down on notebook paper before 'Transwarped' aired. Any characters revealed in it are not he same as the characters in here (especially Perceptor!) I don't own anything. Enjoy!**

Perceptor rebooted. He blinked his optics a few times before groaning. He tried to get up, but his bonds kept him down. "Look who finally rebooted," a gruff voice commented, "for a moment there, I thought I off lined you!" "Release me now or face the dire consequences of Cybertronian law!" he declared, trying to sound like a threat, and "You must answer for the act of breaking into my abode and abducting my person!" "Fancy words for someone in your position," Lockdown emerged from the shadows, "Now do you have any personal mods on you that I could take?" Perceptor struggled as the figure came closer.

"Pathetic, even if you did have a mod, I'm not sure that I would that it from a sissy bot like you." "Mods? What are you…?" Perceptor looked over at the shelves, and gasped at what he saw. "Those are my hunting trophies," the bounty hunter explained, "mementos of my successful hunts. I take their personal mods and use them for myself. "You… you… monster!" "For some odd reason, I knew you'd say that." He put his hook under Perceptor's chin, tilting his head to make the young bot look at him. "I'm not scared of you!" "I don't expect you to be. Now on the other hand, there's that youngling of yours…"

"She's not mine! I was watching her for an old friend!" "So that's the story. I was fixing to say that you seemed too smart to go messing around with femmes, and that I was wrong about you being smart seeing that you landed yourself a sparkling, if you know what I mean." "Uh… yeah, I get it and I'm very offended." He removed his hook. "What have you done with her?!" "Who?" "You know who!" "Oh, the kid? I locked her in the closet. Don't worry; I didn't damage her while you were napping. She's a tough little squirt, I'll give her that much. A lot tougher that you."

Meanwhile, Glitch finally got up after she figured out what to do. She pushed the door open, since Lockdown forgot to lock it. She quietly went to the main room, where Lockdown was talking to Perceptor. Wanting to avoid the scary mech, she searched the ship for something to digest. She found it in another closet. She grabbed as much as she could carry and snuck back into the closet. She quickly ate what she needed to, snuck back out with the rest, and put them back. While she was sneaking, she accidently knocked down a shelf. "Hang on a nanoclick," Lockdown told Perceptor, "I have to go check that out."

Glitch quickly ran out before Lockdown came in. She ran into the main room and quickly got a sharp mod off the shelf and cut Perceptor's bonds. "We've got to get out of here!" she exclaimed, "Come on, Perceptor!" "One problem, we're in space." "That puts quite a damper on our escape, doesn't it? Perceptor, you're leaking!" Perceptor looked down his arm to see a long scratch down his shoulder which his fluid was slowly leaking from. Lockdown came in.

"How'd you get free?! And what's she doing out?!" "You forgot to lock the door," she replied, "You'd think that you would remember to lock the door if you had somebody in there." "Smart aleck kid," he muttered, "I'll fix that tear on you…" But Perceptor had already welded it himself. "What?" he asked, "I cut myself with things all the time. I'm pretty good at first aid." "As I was saying, Megatron will want you fixed so he can break you again."

Perceptor stopped what he was doing, his blue optics widening with fear. "Mega-Mega-Megatron?" He fell forward, shut down. "Perceptor?" Glitch asked, "Perceptor, a re you alright?!" "What'd you know, he actually fainted!" Lockdown retied down Perceptor. "It looks like I have to keep an optic one you, kid." He picked her up, ignoring her kicking.

"Put me down!" "You might as well give up kid; you aren't going to win this round." She ceased kicking. "That's better. Now tell Uncle Lockdown what you did when you got out!" "No! You aren't my uncle and I won't because you're a big meany!" "Youngling, I'm warning you, do not mess with me." He flashed his hook menacingly. Glitch gulped and began trembling. He put her down, but kept a firm grip on her arm.

"L-L-Let go!" she stuttered, "I-I-I'm warning you!" Lockdown laughed. "Oh sure, real brave. You're not fooling anybody, kid." "I'm not trying to fool anybody!" "Sure you aren't. Now what mischief did you get into?" "I got hungry and went looking for energon. I ate some. I know I shouldn't have, but I decided that you didn't deserve my respect because you're a big meany and you hurt Perceptor!" "Oh, leak me a river!" He roughly dragged her away from preceptor. "Perceptor, Preceptor!" "He'll be fine. Now quit squirming!" She did so. He put her back in the closet, this time turning on the lights and locking the door. Glitch sighed, but got an idea when she saw a vent in the room.

Lockdown sat at the control panel, still keeping an optic on the currently unconscious Autobot scientist. He then wondered how much energon the youngling has devoured. He got up and checked. "So much for it lasting me the last of the deca cycle. I hope the bonus is worth all this trouble. It better be good!" He sat down once again. He scanned his trophy shelves, admiring all of them.

Most bots, especially Autobots, would consider his hobby disgusting, much like the young scientist tied to the table. He considered it fair. If they weren't good enough to get away, then they should lose something. Sometimes he had to make a few adjustments to the mods do they would fit him, but he was fine with that. "Too bad you don't have anything to offer," he remarked to his current catch, "Of course, I guess a scientist wouldn't have need of a weapon on him."

Glitch took a running start. She jumped onto the wall and quickly angled up, jumping off the wall and into the vent, a move she had seen Shadestalker execute several times. She followed the vents to the main room. She checked on Perceptor, who, she concluded, was still shut down. "Who's Megatron?" she wondered, "Why did Perceptor look so scared? Maybe it was one of the Cons who attacked his exploration ship." She continued on.

Lockdown was sitting there. She could tell that he was awake, but he looked very bored. "Big meany," she thought, mentally giving him a raspberry, "What are all those items on the shelves? They look like weapons. Maybe he collects them like Shade. But Shade only ninja weapons, there's a wide variety there. Huh, that one looks like it has a servo attached to it." It took her a moment to process the thought. "Never mind, I don't want to know." She climbed back to the closet, exiting the same way she entered. When she got down, she tripped over air, causing her to crash into the ground. "Ow, why me?"

Lockdown heard a crash. "What trouble is that youngling getting into this time?" he muttered, "Don't go anywhere, I'll be back." Perceptor was still shut down. Lockdown opened the closet, just to find Glitch sitting up. "What was that?" "Oh, that crash? I just fell." "You just fell, for no reason." "Yep, I do that once and a while." "You weren't trying to get up to the vent, were you?" "What vent? Oh, that vent right there. Nope, I wasn't trying to get to it. I just randomly tripped over air." "Why were you even walking?" "I got bored in that corner, so I decided to go be bored in this corner." "And you tripped?" "Yep."

Lockdown shut the closet and locked the door. Sure, her explanation didn't make any sense, but neither did she. She wasn't scared of him, just of certain words or motions. Either she was the most naïve youngling on Cybertron, or she knew more than she let on. He didn't really care as long as she didn't cause trouble. He sat back in his chair, putting his feet on the panel, and leaning back. "So, you were watching her for a friend. I feel sorry for that bot."

Glitch was actually surprised that her trick had worked. Maybe that was because she told the half truth, usually considered dishonorable, but she thought that Shade would understand. "How will Shade know we're gone?" she wondered, "I seriously think Perceptor left the door unlocked, so there's no sign of breaking and entering. Sure, Perceptor's house is a mess, but it was a mess before. Maybe I can contact Tran, so he can get Shade. I just have to get out of here and find a com panel." She went to the opposite wall. She started running and executed the wall jumping maneuver. She grabbed the vent.

Lockdown heard a soft thump. Now he knew that she was definitely trying to get into the vent. There was no way a youngling her size could actually get up to it. He got up and went to the closet. He unlocked the door, just to find Glitch's feet disappearing into the vent. "Oh slag! I need vents that I can fit in."

Lockdown listened carefully for the clunk of feet. He heard one. His arm turned into a chainsaw. He sliced through the vent, causing Glitch to fall out. He caught her by the collar. She managed to wriggle out of his grasp. He chased her, chainsaw blaring. She dashed behind the shelves, causing him to slice through it. "Look what you made me do!" he exclaimed, his arm returning to normal, "Now I have to replace it, again!" "You were the one that was chasing me with a chainsaw! I'm glad your stupid trophy case got sliced!" Perceptor groaned and woke up. "What's going on?" he asked, "Glitch?" Lockdown, in a very lousy mood, punched him in the head, shutting him down again. "You off lined him!" Glitch stated, "Why'd you do that?!"

He hooked her collar and dragged her to the place where he kept his energon. He got some out and put something in it. "Here, eat this." "Why?" "Don't ask, just do it!" "She quickly gulped it down. "Yum. Why do I feel so… sleepy?" She drifted off into recharge. "Works every time."

He set her down next to Perceptor. It took him a while to realize the he had been shut down three times. "He probably lost a few data files. But I have a feeling that he can easily regain those pretty easy. Like I said before, the bonus for the youngling better be worth all the trouble she's caused me. Maybe I did go a little crazy with the chainsaw. I hate it when I do that." He leaned back in his chair to enjoy the peace and quiet. He soon discovered that he was bored again. "Slag."

A few mega cycles later, Lockdown finally received the rendezvous coordinates. "About time. New modes, here I come!" He set the coordinates into his navi computer. Glitch was hanging off the table, snoozing away. Perceptor slowly came back, rebooting himself. "Ugh, my processor! What is it, like the third time I've shut off?" "So are you going to come quietly or do I have to use the stasis cuffs?" "Guess and do I want to now how you got a hold of stasis cuffs?" "Probably not." Lockdown scooted Glitch back onto the table. "Knocked her out like a light." "I see. Why did you have to drug her?" "Too much trouble. I nearly sliced her up with a chainsaw, so I did it for her sake and what little is left of my sanity.

**AN/ Lockdown's not very good with kids, is he? Next chap, Glitch and Perceptor meet the Decepticons. **


	7. Transaction

Blitzwing sighed. Starscream complained. Lugnut told him to shut up. Blackarachnia made fun of them both. Who knew where Megatron was? All was normal on board the _Nemesis_.

Meanwhile, Lockdown had cut Perceptor loose. Before Perceptor could blink, he had the stasis cuffs snapped onto him. "Slag," he remarked, falling over, landing on the very hard ground. "I gave you a choice, and you chose the hard way," Lockdown commented, "Now stay there while I dock with Megatron's ship." "You have a very lousy sense of humor." "Don't try to flatter me, it won't work." There was a bump as the two ships connected.

The com panel blinked. He pressed the button. "Bring me the prisoners, bounty hunter." "Alright, and you bring the mods." He turned the panel off. He grabbed Perceptor and slung him over his shoulder. He put Glitch under his arm. "At least she'll be their problem now," he thought, "And I'll get a new mod plus a hefty bonus for these two. Life is good." "This is bad!" Perceptor told himself, "Here's Megatron, leader of the Decepticons, and me, little ol' Perceptor, the humble and small scientist who can't fight worth slag. I'm doomed! What about Glitch? She'll be very confused! She doesn't even know who he is!"

Two of Megatron's flunkies, Starscream and Lugnut, met him half way. Here are the parts," Lugnut stated, "Now give us the prisoners." He handed Perceptor to Lugnut and Glitch to Starscream. He picked up the parts. "It's been a pleasure doing business with you, as always." Both parties walked back to their respected ships.

"Why do I have to carry the youngling?" Starscream complained, "It's not like she can't walk!" "Silence, Starscream! The scientist will help fill the glorious name of Megatron! And the youngling… will do something in the glorious name of Megatron!" "I seriously doubt it. Because I will raise her to be totally loyal to me!" "What did you say? My audio sensors didn't pick up that last part." "Oh nothing, nothing at all." Perceptor frowned, having heard the last part of Starscream's sentence.

They were met by Blitzwing. "I zee ve vinally got them," the blue faced mech commented, "It'z about time." His head rotated, turning to a red face. "I vant to crush hiz data!" he demanded, "It'z been zo long zince ve've had any prisoners!" His face changed again. "Oh, can I play with him?! Can I? Can I? Bwhaha!" "Great," Perceptor thought, "There's a lapdog, a wanna-be leader, and a bot with some serious personality issues. What's next, a spider creature?!" Blackarachnia walked by. "Why do I have to be so smart?!"

Perceptor was dropped, his face meeting the hard floor. "Stupid stasis cuffs!" he muttered, "I can't even get up! Who in their right processor invented these?!" The Decepticons fell silent. Perceptor heard heavy footsteps and lifted his head up as far as the could. A massive figure walked towards the throne, his insignia standing out in the dark. He sat down, red optics burning through Perceptor's spark. "I'm definitely dead." Lugnut started to kiss up.

"Let me see the scientist," Megatron stated, his voice carrying through the room, "And get those stasis cuffs off him." Blitzwing iced them and broke them. Perceptor got up, still reeling from his momentary paralysis. He soon found himself forced up to the massive mech. "Megatron, I presume," he stated, surprised that he could even speak, "What do you want with me?"

"You'll find out soon enough, Autobot. I have heard great things about your intelligence on Cybertron. I must say, being the top graduated of the Science Academy at such a young age is quite the accomplishment. The High Command is foolish to overlook such merit." "If you're trying to charm your way into my data banks, it won't work. I'm simply too modest to fall for that. Sweet words often hide poisonous intentions." He was whacked by Lugnut. "Infidel!" he declared, "don't you dare speak to our beloved leader that way!"

Starscream wasn't paying attention to Megatron or the Autobot scientist. He was busy planning on how he could get full responsibility of raising the youngling. He traced her face, thinking that she was kind of cute the way she was recharging. She woke up and bit one of his fingers. "Yow! Get it off! Get it off!" he exclaimed, "Help!" Blackarachnia just happened to walk in and snickered. "I know. I want to do that to him sometimes too!" She released his finger. He put her down. Nobody up front seemed to notice what had gone on in the back. She silently walked up to Perceptor and hid behind his leg. Nobody noticed, except Perceptor, who felt her squeeze his leg.

"What about the youngling? What does she have to do with anything? She's only 6 for spark's sake!" "Oh yes, the youngling. That's for me to know. Starscream, has she awoken yet?" "Indeed she has, my lord," he replied, "She bit me!" "Well, where is she?" "Why don't you ask the scientist?" Glitch disappeared completely behind Perceptor's leg. "You aren't getting your filthy servos one her!" Perceptor exclaimed, "None of you!" Glitch clung to him tighter. Cool tuned on his char. "Come on vittle one, ve von't hurt you." "No!" she cried, "Perceptor!" "Sh, it's okay," he assured her, "Just stay with me." Hot Head took over. "Move you vittle glitch or I'll…" Random came in. "Express my veelings in song! Don't vorry! Be happy!"

Lugnut, who had a short fuse to begin with, got tired of her refusal to let go of Perceptor and decided to take matters into his own servos. He clamped down on her arm, peeling her off Perceptor's leg. "No! I don't want to let go!" she yelled, "Hey, careful with that claw of yours! You're crimping my armor!" She finally came off.

"Get your slagging servos off her!" Perceptor declared, "Or so help me I will take you apart piece by piece!" He lunged forward, but then was restrained by Starscream. He struggled. "Starscream." "Yes, my liege?" "Take the Autobot to the brig. I'll deal with him later." "Yes sir!" He dragged Perceptor away, who was spewing out any insult he could think off. Unfortunately, he only knew minor ones.

Glitch gulped. "What on Cybertron is going on? Why did that Con just drag Perceptor away? Who are they? Who's the big tall one sitting down? I want to go home!" she thought, "Home to Tran, Shadestalker, and no big scary bots!" She started wailing. "Silence youngling!" Lugnut demanded, "The Master demands it!" She just wailed louder.

Blackarachnia left the room for the sake of her audio sensors. "Put her down, Lugnut. You're scaring the poor thing." "Yes Master." He put her down. She ran towards the direction that Starscream had taken Perceptor. Blitzwing iced her path, causing her to slip and fall. "Ow," she groaned, "Note to self; never run on ice." Blitzwing picked her up. "I vould suggest that you not do that again," he chided, "Ve vould not vant to bring out Hot Head." Glitch blinked, trying to figure out what was wrong with Blitzwing.

He put her down. "Come here, child," Megatron beckoned, "I won't hurt you." She shook her head, not wanting to get any where near him. "Sweet words often hide poisonous intentions," she replied, repeating Shadestalker's advice. Lugnut pushed her forward, her heels scrapping the floor. "Hey, quit it you big lug!" She stopped when Lugnut stopped pushing. "You've probably heard stories about me," eh massive mech said, "I can personally assure you that none of them are true. They're all Autobot lies." "W-who are you?" A false smile played across his face. "I am Megatron, leader of the Decpticons. And your name would be?" "Never heard of you." Blitzwing held in a chuckle.

"I'm not going to tell you." "Why not?" "First of all, you're a stranger. Second, I just decided that I don't like you." Megatron rolled his optics. What was wrong with the new generation? He got up and walked up to her. She gulped again, seeing for the first time how truly massive he was. He bent over, his huge servo looming over her. Glitch shied away, fearing the appendage that was as big if not bigger than her.

"Come now, didn't I already say that I won't hurt you?" She nodded. "B-but I still d-don't t-trust you." He sighed and reached down further. She flinched as soon as his servo touched her face. He ignored her obvious discomfort and gently stroked her face, meaning for it to be a comforting gesture. Much to his annoyance, it seemed to have the opposite effect. "Stop!" she demanded firmly, "Don't!"

Starscream sauntered into the room, back from locking Perceptor up. He observed Megatron basically petting his youngling to influence. The youngling was verbally objecting, but was smart enough to know not to cause too much trouble. "Sh, child. I'm not hurting you, see?" he asked, "Now will you tell me your name?" "No." Starscream held in a laugh. Here the "oh so mighty" Megatron couldn't even get a name from a youngling. Megatron was visibly frustrated, but everybody knew that a scared youngling would give two kinds of information, false or incoherent. This clearly wasn't working.

He picked her up, causing her to squirm a little. This time, he stroked the top of her head. The poor thing prepared to wail again. "No more please," he stated, "You're safe, there's no need to be scared. Nothing about you've heard about me is true." "I have no clue what you're talking about." Megatron frowned, obviously a tad stung that somebody hadn't heard of him. "Didn't your guardian ever tell you storied about the Great War?" "Yeah, he did, but he didn't mention any real names. He called it propaganda, what ever that is. He says some of those things never even happened."

Banging came from the brig. "It's that Autobot," Starscream groaned, "he makes an even bigger fuss than I do!" Megatron put Glitch down; the relief was visible on her face. "I'll take care of it. Lugnut, come with me." "Oh yes, oh great, wise, and powerful Megatron, glorious leader of the Decepticons!" Megatron's optic twitched. "Just come on!" Lugnut followed him like a faithful puppy.

That left Starscream and Blitzwing with Glitch. "Now vhat?" Blitzwing asked, "Ve can't just let her vonder around. Zhe might get do zomething." "I'll watch her," Starscream volunteered, "She likes me." "Oh, so that was an affectionate bite I saw earlier," Blackarachnia responded, coming in, "I don't think so. " "Vhy don't you take her?" "Why me?" "You're a vemme. Don't you have maternal instincts?" "No, I don't. Besides, I'd probably traumatize her. She looked at Glitch, who smiled back at her. "Hi." "Fine, you mechs get on with whatever you do while I take care of her. The two mechs left. "What are you smiling at?" "I like you." "Slag."

Perceptor paused for a moment. "Why am I banging on the door again? Oh yeah, to get their attention!" He heard two Cons dome in. "Finally! Now let's see if… ulp! It's Megatron! Get a grip, Perceptor! You have to do this for Shadestalker! He left Glitch in your care and you have to keep your promise, no matter what!" "Now only if I could convince myself," he muttered, "Okay, maybe this wasn't a very good idea."

He stood back as Lugnut opened the door. The Cyclops pinned him against the wall, only using one servo. "Where is she?!" Perceptor asked, "where is the youngling?!" "She's in capable servos, hopefully," Megatron replied, "From the Cybertronian data files we hacked, it seems like you're an intelligent bot." He reached out, grabbing Perceptor's scope and pulling it. The red bot flinched. "I should only have to tell you this once. You have no friends here, no ninja "brother" to protect you. I run this ship and my word is law, so you have to right to contradict me. If you defy me…" He squeezed down on his scope. "… I can promise that very unpleasant things will happen to you. Do you comprehend, Autobot Scientist Perceptor?" "On the contrary, I must disagree. There is no necessity to raconteur all your horror stories to me. I've heard them all before. I do not need protection from you. You're nothing but an ancient ghost, one used to scare younglings into going to bed." (**Oh, major burn!**)

Perceptor knew what came next, him getting very damaged. Megatron let go his scope, leaving an imprint of where he squeezed. "What is your official position, Autobot?" "You know, since you hacked my file. coughLongarmcough." "What was that last part?" "Nothing important." "I'll be back later, Perceptor. I hope you're in a more cooperative mood then." "I hope you're in a better one." "Lugnut, you know what to do." The cyclops nodded. Megatron walked down the hall with a small smile on his face. It had been a while since he had done the defiant prisoner routine.

He passed by Starscream. "Hello, my liege. Do you need me to do anything?" "No, Lugnut is handling it. Where's the youngling?" "With Blackarachnia. I volunteered, but the youngling seems more… relaxed around her. And for some odd reason, Cool and Random have gone on vacation. Megatron groaned, remembering the last time Hot Head had been left alone. Swindle would never step foot on the ship again and the hole in the engine still needed repair. A crash came from Blitzwing's room, which promptly burst into flames. "Oh for spark's sake!"

**AN/ Oaky, lots of stuff in this chapter. Perceptor sure does know how to insult, doesn't he? Next chap: Blackarachnia and Glitch have fun with Screamer, and Perceptor muses, a lot. New feature: Flashbacks!**


	8. The Spider and the Glitch

**AN/ **Normal talk _Flashbacks_

"What do you transform into?" a curious Glitch asked, "Not a vehicle, I can tell that much." Blackarachnia sighed. "A giant spider, a very scary giant spider!" "I like spiders; they make pretty webs and have interesting features."What about Autobot eating spiders?" "The bigger, the better I say! I seriously doubt that there's Autobot eating spiders. Unlike adults, they don't care about factions. I find it hard to believe that there's Transformer eating spiders though, unless the spider can somehow digest metal, which I don't think any organic can." "What do you know about organics?" "That they're cool and interesting. They can be quite friendly too." "How would you know?" "I live on an organic planet." "Oh yeah, you're a neutral."

Glitch blinked a few times. "Anyways, how'd you manage to scan a spider? I thought Transformers couldn't scan organics and transform into them." "I accidently absorbed some spider DNA and turned into this, a freak!" "You're not a freak! If anybody's a freak, I am!" "What?!" "You can change into a spider, so what? I'm everything a youngling's not supposed to be."

"Like what?" "Well, I like organics, I don't need to always get my way, I like to play pranks, and I'm not going to be nice to someone if they aren't nice to me!" "I'll admit it, I like your spunk, but you have to watch it around here." "Yeah, I noticed. So, what's up with Blitzwing?" "Who knows? He's insane." "Is he tripolar?" "I guess so. Hey, want to play a trick on Screamer?" "If that means Starscream, oh yeah!" "You really don't like him." "I also don't like Nut. I'm impartial to Blitz."

"What's you're name, kid?" "Sorry, the information you are seeking is currently unavailable, not you care." Blackarachnia cracked a small smile. She could tell that she was going to enjoy playing a prank on the Seeker. She handed Glitch a sign. "When Screamer passes by, I'll distract him while you stick this on his back. That'll get him!" "That's a good plan and all, but how am I going to get up to his back?"

Blackarachnia looked up, trying to decide what to do. She squirted some webbing to the ceiling. "How good are your climbing skills?" "Good." She gave her a boost, and Glitch climbed up. "You ready?" "Yep!"

Starscream came by. "Hey Screamer," Blackarachnia greeted, "Has Hot Head blown up the ship yet?" "No, but he set fire to his quarters again." As they continued to chat, "Glitch silently slid down the piece of web. She quickly stuck the sign on his back and climbed back up. The two finished their conversation. Starscream walked away with a "kick me" sign stuck to his back. "Good job, kid. Now get down and let's watch Screamer get kicked!" Glitch quickly came down. Blackarachnia pulled the webbing down.

They watched Starscream pass by Hot Head. Hot Head watched him walk past. "Prepare to die, vool!" He kicked him and pounced. Starscream shrieked in a very girly way. Glitch couldn't help but giggle. Starscream heard her.

"Why you little glitch!" he yelled, "come her so I can tear your processor out!" Glitch took off. "Uh oh, if Screamer there does anything to her, he'll blame me! And Megatron won't be too happy." She quickly followed them, leaving Hot Head to beat up some scrap metal.

Glitch ducked into a room and waited until Starscream passed by. She snuck out of the room. She was just walking around when someone nabbed her. "Sorry about that kid," Blackarachnia apologized, "I didn't know if Screamer was still around. "It was a little to close, but Screamer could never catch me!" "I'm beginning to think you're right."

They both fell silent as Hot Head stormed by. Glitch gave him a confused look, which he picked up. "Vhat are you looking at, you little glitch?!" "Nothing." "Good, because if you vere, I vould have to pull your optics out!" "O-kay." "Vhat does that mean?!" "It means… okay?" He humphed and stormed off.

"That mech has some serious issues." "I agree with you there." "Now what?" "You hungry?" "Not really." They both sighed. "Is it usually this boring?" "No, because Blitzwing isn't usually stuck on Hot Head." "I think I like him better when he's not stuck on one personality." Starscream came running from Hot Head, with the sign still on his back. "Come back here so I can blast you!" "No, go away, go away!"

Perceptor groaned. Every inch of his frame was filled with pain. "At least he didn't rip any limbs off," he mused, "Never knew a punch like that could hurt that much!" Lying still helped the pain, but it didn't help his troubled mind. "What are they after?! Not me, because then Lockdown would've only grabbed me. I wonder… Shadestalker! It all makes sense now! They want Shade!" Upon this revelation, he began thinking about Glitch. "How am I supposed to take care of her? I'm way out of my league…"

"_Are you kidding?! This is way out of my league! I'm a scientist, not a fighter!" "I now, but I need an extra pair of servos! Use that blaster of yours!" "Why are they attacking this colony?! It's filled with neutrals!" "Like they care! They probably figure that they can some energy and some new recruits." "I know bots in that colony. They rather be off lined than get involved in the Con/Bot conflict!" "Then if we fail, they die." "But why, they aren't involved!" "How old are you again?" "14, fixing to turn 15." "Look Perceptor, you're young. You don't understand these things." "Yes I do, somewhat." "Well… argh!" "Shadestalker!"_

He shifted again. "I wonder if Moonhopper is happy with Springer. She's like a sister to me. I just want her to be happy." He sighed. "Great, now I'm talking to myself! I guess that's better than going insane. I can't believe this! Here I am, 24, captured by Cons, not bonded with a femme, and my brother doesn't know I'm missing. On to of all that, I'm somehow supposed to be watching his kid while the Con leader tries to indoctrinate her! And I'm still unappreciated! I really do need to get out more! Next time somebody wants to take me out to lunch, I'm dropping whatever I'm doing and going with them!"

"_So, do you want to come with us?" "No thanks, I have to study." "You're always studying! Why don't you get out once and a while to enjoy life?! You're only 14! I say you've done your fair share of work, already being the Top Graduate at the Science Academy and all! You deserve a break!" "Fine, I'll go with you. But let's not stay out too long, okay?" "Perceptor, Perceptor, Perceptor, all work and no play makes you a dull bot." "I've never been an exciting bot. "Okay, is it okay with you that I signed you up for an expedition?" "You what?!"_

Glitch somehow got separated from Blackarachnia. "I wonder where Percepotr is," she thought, "I wonder if he's okay." She snuck around, trying to find the brig. "Now, I have to open the door. She spied the keypad. She took the cover off and rewired it. The door to the brig opened. She snuck in and closed it. She found Perceptor's cell and hacked into the keypad.

"Perceptor," she whispered, "are you okay?" "Glitch? Yeah, I'm a little beat up, but fine." "Did they hurt you?" "Not as much as they probably usually do. Does anybody know you're down here?" "No, I hacked my way in. I don't think they would let me come down here." He sat up. She climbed up next to him.

"Now can you tell me what's going on?" "I'm not sure how much you'll understand." "Try me." "Basically, they hired Lockdown to come get us. They're after Shadestalker." "Why?" "I have no idea. They might've mistaken his self exile for discontent towards the Autobots." "But would he even think about joining them, if he was?" "No, I seriously doubt it."

Megatron stalked through the ship, heading towards the brig. Hot Head had set he ship on fire five times over the course of a few mega cycles, so Megatron needed to blow off some built up steam. And what better way to do that besides beat up the prisoner? He pressed the code into the keypad, which took a while to respond before opening the door. "When Cool gets back, he'll need to fix that. At least it's not Random's 6588th birthday."

"So you fix a warp drive by reconnecting the fuel system, giving you plenty of fuel to jump?" "Yeah, that's right. You catch on fast, Glitch. "Now get going before they wonder where you are!" "Bye, Perceptor! I'll come back later!" She left the brig.

Perceptor decided to get some shut eye. Megatron came out of the shadows and entered the Autobot's cell. The red mech didn't even stir. The next ting Perceptor knew, he was off the berth and in the air. He felt a familiar grasp on his scope. He opened his optics. "What can I do for you?" Megatron tightened his grip. "Let's talk, scientist." "About what?' "Glitches." "Any particular kind?" "Oh, maybe the one in the form of a femme youngling that just came out of here that you affectionately called Glitch."

**AN/ Uh oh, poor Perceptor! Next chap: Megatron confronts Glitch, Glitch messes with Screamer, and Perceptor muses some more (it's not like he has anything else to do).**


	9. A Glitch in the System

Unfortunately, Lugnut had found Glitch by herself and insisted on carrying her around "for the glory of Megatron". Who was she to refuse the giant Cyclops mech? "I'd rather have Blitzwing find me," she sourly thought, "this mech is more annoying than I could ever be!" Lugnut also wasn't being very careful about how he handled her. She bumped her head on door post, corners and even the wall once because of the way he carried her.

"Here she is, oh wise and powerful Megatron!" he stated, "May I be of any other assistance?" "I'll call you," the grey leader replied, "just make sure Hot Head doesn't burn down the ship." Lugnut, dropped Glitch, and stomped off.

Glitch felt a massive servo on her shoulder. She tried to pull away, but to no avail. "Glitch, that's your name isn't it?" She flinched, knowing that she had been caught. She turned around. "Yes, that's my name. What about it?" Megatron dug his servo into her shoulder plate, causing her great discomfort. Starscream, who was secretly watching, flinched, remembering the times Megatron put a death clamp on one of his wings. "Let go!" she exclaimed, "You have no right to- ow!" "I'm afraid I wasn't very clear on the rules earlier. I assumed you would've figured them without me a having to tell you, but I guess you're just too stubborn." "What ru- ow ow!' Megatron had increased his grip. "Rule one: No talking back. I find it extremely annoying." "But- ow!"

And the list went on. Glitch eventually just blocked them out. By the end, her shoulder plate was crumpled at the edge by his massive fingers. She broke away from his grip and nursed her injured shoulder panel. "It hurts, doesn't it? But which hurts more the outer wound or the fact that I had the gull to do it to a youngling?" She didn't respond, a thing she did when she was upset. She took off.

Megatron sighed, knowing where she was probably going. He was right. She had gone straight to the scientist, her nearest source of comfort. Of course by now, all her emotions poured out, overwhelming Perceptor. "It's okay," he stated, stroking her head. "Let's get this shoulder panel fixed. "Shadestalker! Where's Shade?!" "He'll be here soon, I hope." "I want my daddy1"

"_I want Daddy!" "He's not here, son. He's not coming back! He's offline!" "No he's not!" "I'm sorry, but it's true. Our best medic couldn't save him." "Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!"_

Glitch had calmed down. She clung to Perceptor as he fixed her shoulder. "There, there, it's alright. See, it's fixed now. What happened?" "I happened." Perceptor glared at him. Glitch clung even tighter. "Why?" "It was just a little tough love to show her who's boss. Time to go now, we'll visit Perceptor later."

Glitch didn't move. "Glitch, now." She hesitantly let go of Perceptor. Megatron grabbed her servo. She had no choice but to go with him. He locked Perceptor's cell and they both left the brig. "Don't look at me like that. It was nothing personal, just some tough love." "Sure it was." "Since when were younglings allowed to be so disrespectful in school?" "I don't live on Cybertron. I live on Kalstus II." "That would explain a lot."

She tried to wiggle out of his grip, but it was tight as ever. "Stop it. You're acting like a spoiled youngling." She desisted, allowing him to drag her. He sat down on his throne. They were both silent, Megatron losing his patience and Glitch ticked off at him. She felt herself become very weak. She hadn't eaten in a while, but she didn't wan to talk to Megatron at all. She wavered a couple of times.

Megatron noticed and began looking for the nearest Decepticon he could stick her with. Hot Head stormed in. "Blitzwing, I have a job for you," he stated, "get this youngling fed and put to bed." "It's kind of early," Glitch commented. "Vine! But only because you said to!" Hot Head replied, "Come on!"

"It's… a little stale," Glitch remarked as she snacked down on the energon, "I don't think I can digest it." She demonstrated by banging it on the counter. "Stop that dreadful racket right now!" Hot Head demanded, "Eat, or I vill be vorced to stuff it down your vindpipe!" "That doesn't sound very comfortable." "Eat!"

She bit a piece off and swallowed. It got clogged somewhere I her windpipe. She began coughing. A hardy slap on the back from Hot Head soon unclogged it. "You're taking too long! Give me that!" He snatched it form her. "Open wide!" "What?" He stuffed the whole thing in her mouth. "Ah cane ethe! (I can't breathe!)" "Swallow, and don't talk vith your mouth vull!" She swallowed, but she started choking. "Stop choking or I vill kill you!"

Starscream walked in. "Here, you take her! I can't stand it anymore! Make sure she goes into recharge!" He thrust her into Starscream's arms, still gagging. Instead of swallowing, Glitch decided to cough it up. "BLEH!" Starscream found himself covered in half eaten energon. "Ew!" he groaned, "Disgusting!" "I makes you look funny!" she stated, "not that you need much help." "Lugnut, Blitzwing, Blackarachnia! Anybody?" No reply. "Ugh."

After cleaning up the mess, Starscream realized that the youngling was missing. He spotted Blitzwing, who seemed to come back form Cool's and Random's vacation. "Have you seen the youngling?" he asked, "Megatron will have my head if I lost her!" "Ja, Hot Head saw he and locked her in you quarters," Blitzwing replied, "Last time I saw her, she vas digging through your stuff." Starscream ran to his quarters.

He entered in the code. "Access denied." He tried again. "Access denied." "Let me in! It's my quarters! I demand that you let me in!" He backed up and fired his weapons, shooting down his door. He noticed that the garbage chute was open. He reached in and grabbed a foot, dragging the youngling out. He closed the chute.

"I don't like you." "I don't really care! What did you see when you were digging through my stuff?" "Trash, mainly. Do you think you could really lead the Decepticons? You couldn't even lead a parade!" "You won't tell Megatron, will you?" "Luckily, I'm not talking to him." "Good. Wait, I just cleaned the place out! The only things trashy were… my Playbots!" "Like I said before, trash. I did you a favor." He began trying to push her down the chute. "Get those back before…" "Bwhaha! A Playbot issue!" "… Random gets them."

"You know, you can always come to me when Megatron treats you roughly," Starscream offered, "I'd be willing to comfort you." "Yeah right!" Glitch snapped, "I think you're an egotistical, suck-up, pathological liar, cowardly, self-loathing jerk!" "I am not! And where did you learn those kind of words?!" "What can I say? I have a rather extensive vocab." "I say that you just have a smart mouth! Now get to bed!"

"Where am I going to recharge?" "Hmm… that's a good question. I can't put you in my berth because I'm planning on using it. How about the floor?" "You might step on me!" "True, very true. Um, here!" He opened a drawer and put her in tit. "There! It's long and wide enough!" "Okay. Why are you being so nice to me?" "Do I need a reason?" "Yes." "Goodnight, youngling." He shut the drawer.

"I just have to wait for Screamer to do recharge," Glitch mischievously thought, "I can't go back to Perceptor; Blitz has probably changed the code by now. I need to send Tran an encrypted message letting him know what happened to us. Of course, that would require me to find the com system. It's mini-ninja time!" She set her internal clock to wake her up.

Her trusty internal clock woke her up right on time. As she predicted, Starscream was snoring away. He had left the drawer open a crack, so Glitch easily opened the drawer and wriggled out. He hadn't replaced the door, so it was quite easy for her to sneak out. She slipped into a nearby vent.

She passed by Lugnut's room, who was snoring. "Suck up," she sorely thought, "Now where is that com system? This ship is so much bigger than the _Nova_! I have to find that room. If it's Shade they want, it's ninja Shade they'll get! They'll be sorry that they ever messed with us!" She found the room. She snuck down from the vent, the flashing buttons reflecting off her armor.

She approached the consul. She popped her knuckles and began typing. "Let's see, if I can just find the right channel, encrypt the message, send it, delete the message from the computer's memory, Shade will be here faster than you can say ninja!" "I wouldn't count on that if I were you." A heavy force came upon her neck. She shut off.

Perceptor awoke with a shudder. "Just another dream," he muttered, "Just another nightmare." He found himself unable to drift back into recharge. "Well, scientists are known for their ability to function on little energy. So are scouts. Dad…"

"_Where are you going Daddy?" "I have a mission, Perceptor. Don't worry I'll be back soon. Take care of your mom for me." "I will."_

"_Can you do me a favor, Perce?" "What is it, Shade?" "Will you watch Glitch for me while I straighten out things?" "Sure, no problem!"_

"No problem at all. What terrible irony! I become a scientist to avoid fighting; I end up getting dragged into deplorable situations! I know you're laughing, Dad. You always said that I was too smart for my own good." He rolled over. "I hope Shade can enjoy Glitch at this precious time while she's still young, still innocent. I wonder if she's asked the "question" yet."


	10. Friction

Megatron carried the unconscious youngling down the hall. Her plan would've worked except for the fact that he never recharged for long. He figured that she might try to pull something, so had wandered the ship, keeping an optic out for her. I was only by chance that he found her in the com room.

"What am I going to do with you?" he wondered, "I can't leave you alone for a nano click without you doing something. Starscream is clearly incompetent, Blitzwing is too unstable, Blackarachnia doesn't really care, and Lugnut might accidently squish you, maybe purposely. What better way to indoctrinate you than to do it myself?" She woke up.

"Shade?" she sleepily asked, "Is that you?" still thinking that she was dreaming. "Go back to recharging. It's not time to wake up. She blinked a few times. "You're not Shade!" she exclaimed, "You're… let go!" He reached over and grasped a wire in her neck. She flinched. "So that wire is still sensitive," he noted, "As you get older, it will become less sensitive. For now, I have a leash." He released his grasp. "That hurt!" she commented, "And you wonder why I don't like you!" "Sh, not too loud. You don't want to wake the others." "Where are we going?" He didn't answer.

Glitch was busy trying to figure out where they were going. "Do you know what this is?" he asked, indicating his fusion cannon. "It's… a big gun," she concluded, "I'm not that familiar with fire arms. Not many bots use them anymore. Apparently, you never recharge." "Neither do you." "No, I fell asleep. I just woke myself up." "Sure you did." She yawned, still a little sleepy. She didn't mean to, but she drifted off to sleep.

Perceptor gave up trying to go back into recharge, got up, and started pacing. "Not only am I talking to myself, but I'm also turning into an insomniac!" "You were one before," someone else remarked, "Scientists do have that reputation." Perceptor knew who it was, without looking at them. "So you've finally decided to visit little old me?" he asked, "what do you want this time? I'm' not building anything for you, especially weapons. I don't do weapons." "No, I have something for you." A data pad slid under the door. "Don't worry about Glitch. We're taking good care of her." "You know it won't work. She's too much like Shadestalker. She'll never be Decepticon material." The leader left without saying another word.

Glitch woke up yet again. The room was too dark to see anything, so she decided to remain on the berth. She ran through her memory banks, trying to remember if Shadestalker had mentioned any Decepticons before. She found no mentions of Megatron or of any Cons like Sentinel had talked about. They only name she could remember him mentioning was Sixshot. He never told her why, but he had specifically warned her about the Con. She had seen a picture of him, but she didn't understand why Shade stated his name with great apprehension. Tran had no clue who he was either.

She found it impossible to go back into recharge because of what had gotten her out of it in the first place, a nightmare. She couldn't recall what it was about, besides shade. She shivered. She sat up and shifted her legs over the edge of the berth. She was used to jumping off, because her own berth was pretty high off the ground. She launched herself, finding that the ground was farther than she thought. "Ow," she groaned, "Since when was the ground so far?' She got up and wandered around, hoping to find a light switch.

She never found it, but she found the door. She managed to get it open and wandered out. She sensed somebody in the hall, but couldn't see anybody. She scanned over the hall, knowing that she wasn't wrong. She felt the air whoosh behind her. She whipped around, striking out with her foot. The mech easily blocked it. She knew it wasn't Megatron, he wasn't all enough to be him.

"Who are you?" she whispered her voice barely audible, "You're not anybody I recognize." "I wouldn't expect you to," he replied, "Especially if Shadestalker had anything to say about it. What are you doing out here?" "I don't know. I don't' even know where I am." "We'll have to solve that, won't we? Come now; let's go visit the scientist in the brig.

He held out his servo. "I'm not taking it. I don't rust you. You hide in the shadows, not a very honorable thing to do. "You're a ninja, I can tell. I can't trust a shadow." The mech chuckled. "That sounds like Shadestalker. Of course, I never said that you had a choice." He grabbed her and marched down the hall.

Perceptor never touched the data pad. He already knew what it was: statistics from the neutral colony, Solion.

The place his expedition crashed. The place where Shadestalker had died and he resurrected him. The place the Decepticons attacked. The place where Perceptor had gotten his first, and hopefully, last taste of war. The place where he decided to cut himself off from society and figure things out on his own. The place where Shadestalker cut himself from the militia and went into teaching others. The place where Perceptor swore to never mount a weapon on himself.

He knew the stats by spark. There had been a team of 30 scientists on the ship, all survived, but several had permanent damage. Several neutrals were injured, but only one died, form a spark attack. If it hadn't been for him and Shadestalker, it would've been much worse.

Perceptor had trouble imaging it being much worse. They said he was lucky to survive unscratched, and with little physiological damage. He never considered himself lucky. It wasn't very fun to bring a dead mech back to life.

Of course, there were things that happened that weren't in the official report, like the fact that a ninja from Shadestalker's old clan lead the attack, for the Decepticons. Perceptor couldn't recall his name, but he did know one thing about him. He was very dishonorable. He tried shooting him in the back.

Perceptor didn't know much about ninjas then, but he knew that they were honorable and didn't usually use fire arms. So, the attempted shooting in the back left him in quiet a state of shock.

There had been stories exchanged between him and Shadestalker while they waited for the Cons to attack. Shade has told off how he left his clan, unhappy with how it had become about power instead of honor and moral values.

Perceptor told the story of his father, Hound, a scout, who went on a mission, got shot, and went off line before the med bots could save him. He also told the story of his mother, the beautiful Starstreaker, who died a stellar cycle later from complications. He never believed it. He knew the real cause, spark break.

"How are you going to get in?" Glitch asked, "They probably changed the code already." "I've got a pass. I'm a Decepticon too." "Yeah, I figured that out a long time ago. Why do you want to see Perceptor?" "That's between him and me." "Then why are you dragging me along?" "My, you're an inquisitive one, aren't you? I can't leave you alone because you'll get into too much mischief." He swiped the pass, going into the brig.

Perceptor sat up; surprised that Megatron would visit him so soon afterwards. The Con typed in a code and entered the cell. Perceptor popped off the berth and grabbed Glitch from the Con.

"Are you alright? Did he hurt you? Let me look at you!" he exclaimed, "Are you sure you're okay?" "I'm fine. Are you alright? You've been down here all by yourself for a while." "I'm used to it." The mysterious mech cleared his throat. Perceptor put Glitch down and protectively stood in front of her. "Oh, so you do remember me, kid. Well, I did try to off line you. You never learned my name. It's Sixshot."

"Sixshot?" Glitch asked, "you're Sixshot?!" Sixshot stepped into the light, revealing himself. He wore a mask on the bottom half of his face and had red optics. "Yes, I'm the infamous Sixshot Shadestalker probably told you about. I've been summoned here to complete your training." "Training? I don't want to fight you! I don't want to be a Con, or a Bot, no offense Perceptor!"

"None taken. You aren't touching her. She has nothing to do with this. If you want something to do with Solion, then take it up with me," Perceptor stated, "what do you want?" "I was hoping to pay you back for the little incident on Solion. I figured the youngling could learn a thing or two from a real ninjtsu master." "She has a name." "It's not a very ninja like name. Neither is Jazz, but Shadestalker helped teach him anyway. It's also not a Decepticon name. So kid, you ready to fight?" "Not very honorable; attacking an unarmed opponent." "I don't give a slag about that honor stuff, but I don't want this to be entirely boring." Sixshot threw him a sharp wing sword from his back. "There, happy now?" "I'd rather not do this." "Shut up and fight!"

**AN/ Oh, cliffy! Only two more chapters to go! Next chap: Perceptor and Sixshot duel it out, and the **_**Nemesis **_**has one angry Autobot ninja master on board. Please review, but no flames!**


	11. Clash of the Ninjas

**If you've been waiting for action, this is the chapter to read. Read and enjoy. Chao!**

CLANG! Perceptor blocked Sixshot's strike before it could slice his face. Glitch looked around, wondering what to do. The morning was quickly advancing, and there were no signs of any other Decpticons. She felt a bump that rattled through the ship.

"Either Lugnut fell out of his berth or someone's boarding. Maybe Shadestalker found us! If I could unblock a way for Tran to hack into their computer, he could take control of the ship! But I have to help Perceptor first!"

Sixshot kicked Perceptor in the chasse, knocking him over. The sword fell out of his servo. Sixshot held the blades in a V formation across his wind pipe.

"Well, that didn't last long. Shadstalker replaced me with you as his brother in arms? You're nothing but a joke!"

"Just do it," Perceptor stated, "Just go ahead and take your revenge."

"Nothing has changed over the stellar cycles, has it? You had no fighting skills in Solion, why should you have picked up some now? Unfortunately, Megatron would be upset if I ended your pathetic life."

He removed the blades. Perceptor just smiled.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that I didn't acquire any skills over the stellar cycles."

He wept his leg across, knocking Sixshot over. Another bump rocked the ship. Sixshot quickly recovered and sliced diagonally.

Perceptor stood there for a moment, dumbfounded. Glitch nearly shut down right then and there. Something fell to the floor. It was Perceptor's right arm. He looked down at it, and looked back up a Sixshot.

"You… my arm! Can't believe… cut off…. I can't feel it!"

Sixshot put up his swords.

"Oops. Maybe I went a little too sword happy."

All Perceptor could do was stare at the unattached appendage, clearly in a state of shock.

Megatron walked in. He looked down at the arm and sighed. He crossed his own arms and glared at Sixshot.

"I thought I told you not to cut off any limbs! If we want Shadestalker to joins us, then we need to show him that he can trust us. I doubt that he will after he takes a look at the scientist. At least you kept the youngling intact."

"Sorry, he asked for it."

"No I didn't!"

"Shut up kid!"

Perceptor sat down on the ground and hugged his knees with the arm he did have. Glitch came and sat next to him. He continued mumbling. She put her arms around him.

"While you were on you're little rampage, Shadestalker some how managed to get under our radar. He must have some kind of cloaking device. We can't pick up his ship on our scanners, so we don't know if he's actually boarded or not."

"Fine, I'll go look for him. He'll probably come to us."

"No more missing limbs, Sixshot. I do not tolerate disobedience twice."

Sixshot walked out, muttering under his intake. Megatron turned to Perceptor and examined the damage. The connecting joint was sparking, and fluid dripped out of the sliced tubes. It was a steady drip, but at the amount it was dripping, the Autobot would go off line from fluid loss if he didn't receive help.

Glitch picked up his arm and wiggled it.

"This is really… freaky," she commented, "Uh…"

Lugnut came in.

"My lord, there has been an intrusion on board. It's the Autobot ninja master! What should we do?"

"So he's finally on board. Lugnut, take the scientist and go to the throne room. Take his arm with you and keep it out of sight. Under no circumstance is Blitzwing to have it."

Lugnut, not too gently, picked up Perceptor and yanked his arm away from Glitch.

"Whee! I'm flying!" Perceptor stated, clearly delusional from the loss of fluid.

"You're coming with me."

"No! I'm not! I'm tired of doing what you say!"

"That was not a request Glitch. The games end now!"

"Games?! You call all that has been happening games?! I hate to see you be serious!"

He roughly grabbed her arm, hoisting her into the air. Her feet dangled. He looked her in the optics.

"Now listen and listen well! I want no more of this behavior out of you or the scientist isn't going to be the only one with missing limbs!" Glitch sighed. "Fine."

He wrapped his arm around her middle and carried her out. She crossed her arms, annoyed by her current position.

"Enjoy this while you can Megatron. When I'm older, you'll be in for it! Oh boy, will you ever be in for it! You won't know what hit you!"

"I seriously doubt it. Even when you're older, you'll be tiny compared to most Autobots."

"Yeah, but I'll be tons faster and a lot wiser too!"

"You just keep telling yourself that."

Shadestalker climbed up on the ceiling using his ninja equipment. He had called Tran during a recess to check on him, just to find out that Tran had uncovered an encrypted file transfer from Cybertron to a remote region of space. It had been to his horror that the files were all about him, Perceptor, and Glitch. While there was no way to tell from the files themselves who the sender was, Shadestalker knew. The only bot that had access to the files had to be a top intelligent agent, Longarm.

Shadestalker nearly growled when he thought of the bot. Perceptor had been right to be suspicious of him, even if some of it was based in jealousy. That calm bot complex hid the face of a double agent, a Con. He also figured out who received the files, the Decpticons. They had been trying to contact him for eons, but he turned them down every time.

He left the rest of the trial to pick up the trail. It hadn't been easy, but they had tracked Lockdown's emission trail to here. He had no idea that the Decpticon flag ship would be in this sector, but he wasn't surprised. He was not a happy bot. He found his brother and his daughter missing. He came here to get them back. He didn't care how many Cons he had to slice through to get them back. He would even face Megatron himself if he had to. Surprisingly, there was no sign of lie. He found a brightly lit room in front of him.

"No doubt a trap. But it's a chance I have to take! Glitch and Perceptor are in grave danger, and I must do everything in my power to save them!"

He dropped down and activated his battle mask, drawing out his katanas.

Lugnut handed Perceptor's arm to Starscream to hide. Starscream wiggled it and suddenly felt ill. He gave it to Blitzwing.

"Cool!" Hot Head commented, "An arm!" The Seeker did a face palm. Sixshot hid in the shadows, waiting for his prey. Everybody stopped and looked at eh door. It opened. A black ninja bot with white streaks walked in, battle mask down and weapons drawn.

"Drop the Autobot. He better not be harmed or else..."

"I can personally assure you, Master Shadestalker, that neither he nor your youngling has been harmed," Megatron began, entering the room, "Sorry for the cloak and dagger approach, but you're a very hard bot to reach. I really had no other choice."

"I don't answer summons from the likes of you, Megatron. I've denied your flunkies, what makes the leader himself any different? Now where's the youngling?"

Megatron turned to reveal Glitch. She sheepishly grinned at him.

"As you can see, they haven't been harmed. There's no need for battle masks or weapons Master Shadestalker."

Shade glanced around, observing every Con in the room to make sure they weren't trying to sneak up on him (not that they could if they were). Unfortunately for Blitzwing, Random had decided to show himself.

"Vhee! Look at me, I've got an arm! I can make it wave!"

He pulled a wire, making the arm wave. Shadestalker growled and charged at Megatron, letting out a battle cry.

CLANG! He was blocked by Sixshot.

"Sixshot! I should've known a dishonorable scum like you would be involved in this! You would do anything to get back at me and Perceptor!"

"Look who's talking! You were the one that left the clan, your family! And for what?! A title and position in the pathetic Autobot militia?! Did you ever perform processor over matter?"

"It never was my family! It left me!"

They broke apart. Shadestalker looked a Perceptor and noticed the fluid leaking out of him.

"I'm never joining you, Megatron! Do you hear me, never! You can just crawl into a hole and go off line for all I care! And no, I don't care if the youngling hears that!"

"Are you threatening me, Master ninja? Who are you to threaten me, supreme ruler of the Decepticons, while I have your youngling's and brother's sparks in my grasp?!"

"Tran, now!"

A hole was blown in the roof. Tran dropped in and grabbed Perceptor, and his arm. Blitzwing fired at him, but the hologram was too fast for him. Tran quickly went up through the hole.

"What was that?!" Starscream asked.

"Just a friend of mine. He should be coming again right about… now."

Tran popped in again, this time phasing his servo into Megatron's servo and disconnecting one of the wires. The tyrant's servo fell limp, dropping Glitch. Tran caught her, avoided fire from both Blitzwing and Starscream, and went back up to the ship.

"Perceptor's hurt!" she informed him, "Do something!"

He placed him on the table and examined where his arm used to be. He pulled out his bag of medical tools.

"He's in shock. I can slow down the flow of fluid, but don't have the resources here to reattach his arm or give him more fluid."

He quickly wielded the tubes closed, preventing any more fluid from coming out.

"I'll be back. I've got to get Shade."

He jumped out, where Starscream was waiting and shot at him. All the shots went trough him, leaving the Seeker to wonder if his aim needed major improvement.

"Are you quite done?" a rather amused Tran asked.

"It's a ghost! Run!"

He took off, despite Megatron yelling at him to come back.

"Shadestalker! Hurry it up! We have to get Perceptor back to Cybertron if he is to survive! I slowed down the leakage, but I don't know how long it will hold!"

Tran reached inside of Blitzwing and knocked him out.

"If I'm not back in five, leave without me!"

"No, I'm not leaving you alone with these Cons!"

Sixshot unsuccessfully tried to stab the green mech with his blade. Lugnut observed the strange bot, puzzled by his intangibility.

"I don't think he's really a ghost. I will destroy whatever it is in the glorious name of Megatron!"

He punched Tran in the middle. Tran solidified, trapping is servo. Lugnut's optics widened.

"Would you get your servo out of me? Thank you!"

Lugnut quickly withdrew his servos. Tran punched him in the face plate, knocking the giant flat. Shadestalker and Sixshot were locked in mortal combat.

"You replaced me with that kid from Solion! He can't fight worth slag!"

"I think I just figure out who cut his arm off! Sure, he can't fight, but at least his spark is in the right place!"

CLANG! CLANG!

"You and your spark and honor nonsense! At least you have your skills!"

CLANG!

"You and your power talk! Do you still do the hologram trick, you know, the one that I always beat?"

Sixshot broke away and chuckled evilly.

"You'll find that I've made improvements to it."

He multiplied himself, surrounding Shade.

"It used to be a trick, but I found a way to make my holograms real. That means every strike, every blow, and pain is real. It's a really deadly move." They all jumped.

Perceptor began to stir.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. You know how your inventions go."

A moment later, he mumbled again.

"I know Dad; I need to find a femme while I'm still young. I've got my optic on one. Her name is Triggera, but her friends call her Trig. I know, unusual name. Something about she had a bunch of brothers. She lives about 4 houses down from me. She's a different kind of femme, and I mean that in a good way. I see her quite often down at the plaza. I'm just too scared to talk to her."

Meanwhile, Glitch took a note on everything he said.

"I'll help Perceptor. I'll set him up with that femme! Maybe Shade and Tran will help me."

Tran came in, dragging a battered up Shadestalker.

"He'll be fine. He just needs a few minor repairs. Now let's get out of here!" They all strapped down. Tran took the helm and punched in the coordinates.

"Entering warp speed now!"

The _Nova _disappeared in the horizon.

Sixshot stabbed his swords into the ground, very upset.

"I nearly had him! How did he find the real me?! For several stellar cycles, I've worked on that technique to defeat him! And he still beat me!"

He picked up his swords and sheathed them. He walked away without saying another word. Blitzwing came back online.

"Vhat happened? I veel vunny."

"My punch went right through him!" Lugnut thought, "But how?! Was he truly a ghost from the past haunting us?"

Starscream peeked back in. "Is the ghost gone?"

Megatron let out an annoyed growl at his limp servo.

"There appears to be a hole in the ship. I better vix it."

"Next time," Megatron grumbled to himself, "I'll only have one ninja at a time!"

Blackarachnia walked in. "What happened here? Did Hot Head go on a rampage again?"

"You didn't hear it?"

"What? Lugnut just fell out of his berth again!"

"Oh for spark's sake, why me?!"

**AN/ I tried out a new format. Only one more chapter to go! If you have any questions, ask away!**


	12. The Verdict

The _Nova_ didn't have to travel long to meet up with the Elite Guard's flagship.

"Pull over!" sentinel ordered, "And prepared to be boarded! We have a warrant for your arrest, Shadestalker!"

"There's a minor problem," Tran replied, "Shade isn't exactly in peak condition and Perceptor's loosing a lot of fluid. We can't stop until we get to Cybertron!"  
"I order you…"

"Sentinel, let them pass! Clearly, it's a medical emergency!"

"Yes sir, Ultra Magnus."

"Kiss up," Glitch teased. Sentinel broke communications.

Tran quickly landed on a landing pad. Sentinel came in with stasis cuffs.

"You are in so much trouble! I have enough charges to put you in the stockades for eons!"

A barely conscious Shade groaned, wondering why the blue mech couldn't see that he was in great pain, instead of reading him off his rights and trying to arrest him.

"By the power invested in me by the Elite Guard, I hereby arrest you on charges of desertion, vigilante actions, and theft of top secret Autobot tech! You have right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you."

"Slag off… Jerkinel."

Before Sentinel could slap the stasis cuffs on, Jazz rushed in. he observed the damage.

"Master! He's hurt! We have to get him to a repair center!"

Jazz took his arm, put it over his shoulder, and supported Shade's weight. They slowly walked out, Shade more limping than walking. Ultra Magnus came in, ducking his head so he wouldn't hit it on the door post.

"Tell the repair center to prep 400 CCs of fluid fast!" Tran exclaimed, "Hurrying around, "Also tell them that we have a bot in a state of shock with major fluid leakage. We need a smooth but quick ride. He's in a state of shock so we have to handle him very carefully. Here, hold this!"

He handed Sentinel Perceptor's arm.

"Oh look, it's an arm. Wait… an arm?!"

He let out a girly shriek before falling over, shut off. Glitch caught Perceptor's arm. Magnus helped Tran lift Perceptor onto the stretcher.

"I'll transfer to the repair center. Just get him there safely."

"Right!"

Tran blinked off.

"You need this," Glitch offered, "you can't really reattach the arm without the arm itself."

Magnus grabbed it.

"uh, you watch Sentinel for me. Do you think you can handle him?"

"Yes sir!"

An evil glint came in her optic. Ultra Magnus rushed Perceptor out. She spotted cans of pink paint. She gleefully rubbed her servos together.

"This is too good of an opportunity to pass up."

Sentinel came back online.

"I can't believe I shut off! And why am I pink?!" Glitch giggled.

"You little… I'll…"

"It'll wash off if you hurry." HE quickly rinsed it off.

"So I guess I'm supposed to watch you. How come I always get stuck with you?"

"I asked myself the same thing. And actually, Ultra Magnus told me to watch you."

"Yeah right!"

"That's what he said."

"You look tired."

"I am. The Cons don't let you get much sleep."

Much to Glitch's distaste, Sentinel kneeled over, laughing his inners out. It took him a while to regain control of himself and get back up.

"The Cons… he he….don't…. ha ha, this is the first time you've ever made me laugh, ha ha!"

"What's so funny?!"

"The Cons don't exist any more! They're gone, extinct!"

"What about Megatron?"

"I say he's been offline ever since the end of the Great War."

"How do you think Perceptor lost his arm?"

"I think your ninja father had a little training "accident" with his weapons."

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

Eventually, they both went into recharge. That was until Glitch woke up and decided that she was hungry. She got out of her berth and found Sentinel snoring in a chair.

"Jerkinel, wake up!"

He continued snoring. She took a small wire from the computer and touched it to one of his feet. The shock was enough to wake him up, and maybe cause a little damage.

"What?! Where?! Oh, it's just you. What do you want?"

"I'm hungry."

"You woke me up just to tell me that?!"

"What else was I supposed to do?"

"Fine, I'm up!"

He got up and stretched. He followed her out of the ship, yawning.

They reached the plaza where Sentinel ordered some energon. She scrafed it down.

"Careful, you might choke on it, and I don't know Heimlich."

"More?"

"You really are hungry. Stay here wile I go get some more." He got up.

Glitch looked around, observing everybody in the area. There was a couple, looking romantically ate each other, a sparkling crying, and someone yelling.

"Don't these bots know how to relax?! They run around like their circuits are on fire." The whole plaza fell silent.

"It's a little too quiet. I wonder what's going one." She looked over the crowd.

A repaired Shadestalker walked up, but he still looked exhausted. Everybody in plaza stared at the newcomer. Murmurs ripped through the crowd.

"Is that Shadestalker? I thought he was off line!"

"I heard they found him on an organic planet."

"What was he doing there?"

Glitch jumped out of the chair, nearly knocking it over.

"Shade! You're okay!"

He knelled down, slowing her to envelope him in a hug around his neck. Sentinel came back with the energon, just to see them hugging.

"I'm not going to cry! I'm not going to cry! I better go before I start." He quickly left. Even more murmurs ran through the crowd.

"So, that's what you've been doing all these stellar cycles," someone spoke up, "I thought you were off line."

Shade turned to see a black ninja bot emerge from the crowd. He smiled a little.

"Prowl? Is that you?"

"Yes it is. Welcome back to Cybertron, Sensei. I never thanked you for helping me with my optic journey." He kowtowed.

"Thank you, but I won't be staying. I'll come back more often. I trust you'll be around?"

"I will." Prowl stepped back into the crowd. As they walked away, Glitch saw bots whispering.

"Nosy bots! I'm glad we're not staying. This place is so rushed. Shade?"

"Yes, Glitch"

"Will Perceptor be okay?"

"I don't know. All we can do is wait."

Shade woke up when somebody knocked on Perceptor's door. He answered it.

"Jazz, any news?"

"Yes, in fact, it's probably the best news you've heard all stellar cycle! The reattachment was successful. Perceptor is dying to see you two. The repair center can't get him to shut up! And Ultra Magnus wants to talk to both of you, alone."

"Alright, I'll get Glitch." He went to her berth and tickled her feet. She woke up.

"What is it Shade?"

"Perceptor's fixed. We have to visit him."

"Okay." She got up and followed him out.

They arrived at Perceptor's room. Ultra Magnus was already in there.

"Glitch, wait out her with Jazz. The adults have to discuss something." She nodded, letting Shade go in and shut the door. She sat next to Jazz, swinging her legs and rhythmically hitting the state.

"Jazz?"

"Yeah, G?"

"What does everybody mean by colors? Sentinel asked and I told him aquamarine. He just burst out laughing."

"You know about Autobot and Decepticons, right?"

"Yeah, the two factions have been going at it for stellar cycles."

"Well, I don't' see why SP asked you that. It refers to what faction you belong to."

"Um, I'm a neutral with Autobot sympathies?"

"Don't worry about it, just be you. And remember, SP is a glitch head." She giggled.

A light blue gray femme and a green and yellow mech came by.

"Excuse me, is Perceptor in here?" she asked, "I'm Moonhopper and this is my husband, Springer. We're friends of his."

"Yeah, he's here," Jazz replied, "But you have to wait to visit him. They're discussing some important details in there."

"I knew this would happen, "Springer stated, "I knew that he wouldn't focus on his surroundings and accidently chop his arm off!" Moon hopper elbowed him.

"Be nice! After all, he was your best bot at our wedding."

"I know. I'm just saying that he needs to be more careful."

"I'm Glitch," Glitch added, "I'm Perceptor's niece, sort of."

"I didn't know that Shadestalker had a kid," Springer whispered to jazz, "How'd he get her? He doesn't seem like the type to…" Moonhopper whacked him on the head.

"Ow, why?"

"Do you want to help me set Perceptor with somebody? He was muttering about someone," she asked Moonhopper.

"Sure, Perceptor needs someone to help him."

"One problem, I don't live here. But we'll visit often, we'll do it then. Deal?"

"Deal." They shook servos.

"So, how old are you, kid?" Springer inquired, "5, 4?"

"6 actually."

"Hm, you look shorter than that." WHAP!

"Ow!"

Ultra Magnus finally came out, shaking his head.

"Jazz."

"Yes sir?"

"I want you to stay here until Perceptor can leave."

"Will do." The tall bot walked out. Everybody rushed into Perceptor's room. Shadestalker leaned against the wall, deep in thought. Glitch was the first one to get to Perceptor's side.

"Perceptor, are you okay?"

"I'm fine. It's pretty mush a blank on how this exactly happened, but I'm fine nonetheless. Oh, Moonhopper, Springer, I didn't realize that you would be here! Do you remember Shadestalker?"

"Who could forget?" Springer remarked, "You did bring him back to life after all." Shade looked around the room some and left.

"Family issues," Perceptor explained.

Tran appeared, nearly scaring Springer out of his armor.

"Meet Tran, the only holographic medic that wasn't shut off, the one who save my skid plate."

"But there are no projectors in here. How is he here?"

"I made some improvements to his programming the night they arrived. I also implanted a miniature projector in him, but I'm afraid it's only a prototype. Once I perfect, he can go any where he wants." Moonhopper went up to Tran.

"Thank you."

"No need to, any friend of Shade's is a friend of mine. I live in his ship's computer."

"That would explain a lot." They all sat around Perceptor, chatting and visiting away.

Shdaestalker stood on the roof, watching the streets below and meditating over everything that had happened.

"So what did the Command decide? Please tell me the truth." Jazz stepped out of the shadows.

"They decided to let you do your own thing. It doesn't appear to be hurting anything; they just don't want you to go that long without checking in again." Shade chuckled.

"Oh believe me, I won't. What about Glitch?"

"They saw no reason that you couldn't keep her." Shade continued to look down.

"Are you alright?"

"I just have a lot on my processor."

"Okay, I'll just leave you to your meditation."

"Thank you, Jazz."

Meanwhile, Perceptor had nodded off into recharge. Everybody left the room. Jazz stood up from his seat.

"I know Ultra Magnus wanted me to stay her, but I think Shadestalker is a better substitute. I'll take you home Glitch. Man, what a cool bot!"

"You're better than Jerkinel." Jazz laughed.

"Where is he any way?"'"I don't know." Jazz tapped his com.

"Hey man, where are you? You disappeared when Shad showed up!"

"I had to do something, like make sure the _Nova_ got decontaminated!" Jazz sighed.

"What's with him and organics?"

"I don't really know, just that it involved giant spiders."

"Did you say giant spiders?" "Yeah, why?" "It's nothing… nothing at all.

_One week later…._

"It's good to be back on Kalstus II," Shade sighed, "Fresh air, good natured organics, no Cons, and I'm cleared of all charges. Life is good!" Tran stood outside with him.

"I can't believe it! I can go any where I want without having to worry about projectors. I like bots to say that I'm not real now! Are we going back soon?"

"Next week, Moonhopper and Glitch are setting up Perceptor with a femme named Trig."

"I can help the medical academy with their holographic training teachers. Ultra Magnus does know how to have things work out for everybody."

"Glitch also got her vehicle mode. I've never been so proud!"

Glitch hiked through the woods she often wandered in. She spotted and Kalstus wolf (like our wolves but bigger). "Cool, I wonder if I can get a scan of its bios." She quickly scanned it and started back.

"Shade, is it just me or is there an aquamarine wolf coming towards us?"

"No, I see it too." Glitch transformed back.

"What? Why are you staring at me like that?"

"Well I'll be," Tran muttered, "She's a triple changer! And she somehow managed to scan an organic!" Shadestalker buried his head in his servo and groaned.

"It's going to be a long orbital cycle."

The End of one story, the beginning of another!

**AN/ Finally finished! Thanks to my reviewers and any fans for bearing with me. I will follow up with a prequel going deeper into Shadestalker's and Perceptor's pasts, plus a narrative story of Solion. Chao!**


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